Brazil’s Senate Should Finish Voting on Social Welfare Reform on October 2nd

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, August, 13th, the Senate party leaders outlined the timeline for passage of social welfare reform legislation. The proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) will first be voted on during the session on September 18th and the second session will be October 2nd.

The president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, dismissed claims that the 60-day period predicted for processing the PEC will be exceeded, as members of parliament opposed to the measure have criticized.

According to the parliamentarian, the special committee of the Senate created to monitor the bill while it was debated in the Chamber of Deputies, has already been active for about five months.

“I respect the position of all Senators, I think it’s legitimate, and they’re fulfilling their roles so that they can manifest it. But, the Federal Senate created a special committee that has already been established for over 150 days with Senators from every political party, who have led this special committee with the intention of monitoring the progress of the reform in the House of Representatives,” he said.

“A timeline of 60 days is very reasonable within what Brazil expects from the Federal Senate and within what, considering what we did with the special committee, is undoubtedly possible for the Federal Senate to continue debating that matter,” completed Alcolumbre.

The rapporteur for the amendment, Senator Tasso Jereissati, has openly defended that his colleagues confirm the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies, without any alteration, so that the PEC does not return to the lower house.

Despite recognizing that the text voted on in the House needs to be improved, especially in terms of what it says about new social security regulations in states and municipalities, Jereissati maintains that the alterations proposed by Senators should be made through a parallel PEC. and will have the support of Senate president Alcolumbre.