Commission Resumes Opinion Review on Pension Reform on Tuesday

By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Commission for the Constitution and Justice (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies will resume this Tuesday (April 23rd) the examination of the rapporteur’s opinion, Delegate Marcelo Freitas (PSL-MG), on pension reform. Pressed by parties of the ruling base, the parliamentarian may present a complementation.

“What we are trying to work on is the construction of a consensus that allows us to discuss a final text that serves the interests of Brazilian society without dismissing the text proposed by the government. We’re still studying this. 13 separate reports that were made”, said Freitas, following Wednesday’s session (17th), when the opinion was scheduled to be voted on.

The initial project was to vote on the report on the admissibility of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 6/19 last week, but tumultuous sessions made voting unfeasible. In one of them, the reform proposal was discussed in the collegiate for over 12 hours.

Government leader in Congress, Joice Hasselmann (PSL-SP) said that Palácio do Planalto does not calculate how many votes it would have in the commission but has assured that it already meets the minimum requirement for the continuation of the proposal in the House. “We have the necessary votes; we have 43 votes. We’re going to pass this [the CCJ]”, she said.

On Wednesday (17th), the Special Secretary for Social Security and Labor of the Ministry of Economy, Rogério Marinho, confirmed that the government agreed to negotiate the Social Security reform to ease the approval of the text in the Chamber’s CCJ. He made a statement after meeting with MPs of PP, PRB and PSL.

“We had a first conversation with members of various parties who have some restrictions on the project as it stands. We started a dialogue, but there is no compromise. The agreement has to be made in full. Let’s continue to talk”, said the secretary.

According to Marinho, the government and the leaders of the allied base intend to close the agreement by Monday (22nd) for voting on the following day. “If the agreement is celebrated by Friday (19th) or Monday (22nd) the voting will be unobstructed and we will proceed on Tuesday (23rd)”.

After the session last Wednesday, opposition leader Alessandro Molon (PSB-RJ) said that the rapporteur’s opinion was not ready to be voted on in the CCJ. “It’s a fierce text for most of the Brazilian population. Either the government changes the text, or it will be defeated in the CCJ, “Molon said.

Procedure
Presently, the examination of the admissibility of the text is up to the collegiate alone. Consequently, parliamentarians will analyze if the proposal does not violate any provisions in the Federal Constitution.

If approved, the measure will be considered by a special committee and its deadline will comprise 40 plenary sessions for voting in favor of an opinion. Amendments may only be submitted to this committee, namely suggestions for changes to the text, signed by at least 171 MPs each, within ten plenary sessions.

In order to be approved in the House, the proposal must have the support of 308 MPs in two rounds of nominal votes.

Rules
According to the government proposal, the minimum retirement age will be 65 for men and 62 for women, after a minimum of 20 years of contribution. The minimum age will increase from 2024 and every four years subsequently, considering life expectancy in Brazil. Currently, the legislation establishes the same 65 years for men and 60 for women, after a minimum contribution of 15 years.

The proposal also includes the end of Retirement due to contribution time, that today can be granted after 35 years for men and 30 for women.

The text withdraws from the Constitution several provisions that now govern Social Security, transferring the regulation to complementary law. According to the federal government, the measure aims to contain the difference between what is collected by the system and the amount used to pay benefits.