Chamber approves basic text of project that limits increase in the minimum wage and changes BPC

The Chamber of Deputies approved this Thursday a bill that limits the real increase in the minimum wage, in addition to changing rules for access to the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC), among other points, with the intention of improving the execution of social programs and benefits and at the same time contain the growth of Executive expenses.

The text, which now goes to the Senate, provides that by 2030 the real increase in the minimum wage will be linked to the effective annual growth rates in primary expenses.

It also requires biometric registration for the granting, renewal and maintenance of social security benefits, as well as determining a periodic registration update with a maximum period of 24 months for benefits that use CadÚnico. The two measures were adopted with the intention of reducing possible fraud in the granting of benefits.

The main text was approved by 264 votes in favor and 209 against. The small margin of favorable votes denotes the difficulty the issue faces in the plenary.

The proposal also establishes that municipalities and the Federal District respect maximum rates of single-person families in Bolsa Família.

In the case of the Constitutional Fund of the Federal District, the annual growth in expenses will be limited to the variation measured by the IPCA instead of taking into account variations in the Union’s net current revenue.

“With these measures, the project seeks to improve the execution of social programs and the payment of benefits, concentrating efforts on serving those who really need it, while adjusting the growth of expenses to make the guarantee of rights compatible with fiscal sustainability, like other measures recently adopted”, says rapporteur Isnaldo Bulhões (MDB-AL), in his opinion.

The changes foreseen for the BPC in the original project were softened by the rapporteur, after a great reaction from parliamentarians. If it were maintained as it was, argues Bulhões, the project could have an “undesired” social impact with the undue cancellation of thousands of benefits, “increasing the vulnerability of families of elderly and disabled people”.