Fundeb, bonus, super salaries: how the PEC of the tax package approved in Congress turned out

After weeks of intense negotiations and the “rush” of the last few days for the text to be approved later this year, the National Congress enacted this Friday (20) the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) with the measures of the fiscal package announced by the federal government at the end of November.

The now Constitutional Amendment 135 comes from the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 45/24, attached to PEC 31/07, which is part of the government’s effort to control the growth of mandatory expenses (personnel and social programs, for example) in order to leave room for discretionary expenses (which the government can choose to carry out or not).

The project was approved by the Senate, in two rounds of voting, on Thursday night (19) – the House also approved this Friday the last project of the fiscal package that was pending, ending the processing of one of the economic team’s biggest priorities in 2024.

During the discussion in the Senate plenary, the senators made just one change and decided to suppress an excerpt from the PEC approved by the Chamber that determined which states and municipalities could allocate resources from the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Valorization of Education Professionals ( Fundeb) to finance school feeding programs for basic education.

The agreement was for the promulgation of excerpts in common with the text approved by the deputies.

A PEC is only approved with the support of at least ⅗ of the deputies (308) and senators (49), in two rounds of voting in both Houses (Chamber and Senate). That’s what happened, in a victory for the president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)despite the “dehydration” of some points of the original project.

See how the PEC of the tax package turned out:

Fundeb

Authorization was withdrawn for the Union, from 2026, to deduct expenditure on full-time education from Fundeb. The text establishes that in 2025, up to 10% – and not 20% as proposed by the government – ​​of the Union’s supplement to Fundeb may be used to maintain enrollment in full-time public schools.

From 2026 onwards, according to the text, at least 4% of the complement from States and municipalities to Fundeb must go towards this same type of expenditure.

The expectation is that, from 2026, the federal government will stop spending on maintaining enrollment in full-time basic education, which is a discretionary (not mandatory) expense. This responsibility will fall to the states and municipalities, with resources from the transfer that the Union already makes obligatorily to Fundeb.

Super Salaries

The project provides that the issue involving the so-called “super salaries”, that is, exceptions to the public service salary cap, will be regulated in ordinary law, approved by the National Congress, and not in a complementary law, as proposed by the government.

Ordinary law requires a smaller number of votes to be approved. The section that stated that “only” the installments provided for by law could be excluded from the remuneration limits was removed.

A provision was also included to make it clear that compensation will continue to be paid until the law is enacted. According to the excerpt, until the ordinary law is enacted, the indemnity installments will not be computed for the purposes of the remuneration limits.

DRU

The PEC extends the Untying of Union Revenues (DRU). The text determines that until December 31, 2032, 30% of the Union’s collection related to social contributions will be released from any body, fund or expense, without prejudice to the payment of expenses under the General Social Security Regime, intervention contributions in the economic domain , taxes and property income.

Budget execution

The provision that provided for the revocation of paragraphs 10 and 11 of article 165 of the Constitution was removed. One of them mentions that “administration has the duty to execute budgetary programs, adopting the necessary means and measures, with the purpose of guaranteeing the effective delivery of goods and services to society”. The second provision is related to the way in which the amendments are executed.

Salary bonus

The PEC brings changes to the rules for granting the salary bonus, a benefit worth one minimum wage currently paid to workers who receive a maximum of two monthly minimum wages.

The text defines that anyone earning up to twice the minimum wage in the base year (2023) will be eligible for the policy for payment in 2025, corrected, from 2026, by the annual variation in the National Consumer Price Index (INPC).

The idea is that the entry point for the bonus will be limited, at the end of the transition period, to those earning up to one and a half minimum wages, which would occur in 2035, according to the Treasury’s projection.

Granting of subsidies

The PEC provides that the Executive Branch may reduce or limit, in the preparation and execution of budgetary laws, expenses with the granting of subsidies, subsidies and benefits of a financial nature, including those relating to compensation and refunds for economic losses, “observing the perfect legal act”.

In another section, the PEC defines that a complementary law will provide for conditions and limits for the granting, expansion or extension of incentives or benefits of a tax nature.

(With Senado Agency and Estadão Conteúdo)