Chamber’s Special Committee Endorses Brazil’s Welfare Reform Text

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The special committee on the welfare reform in the Chamber of Deputies passed the text of the Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC 6/19) in the early hours of Saturday, July 13th, by 35 votes in favor and 12 against, which will be voted in a second round by the Chamber’s plenary.

A formal stage in the procedure, deputies took nearly four hours to complete voting on the matter, after the session had finalized discussions.

The session was marked by criticism from opposition deputies and an attempt to obstruct the session in order to postpone or hinder the conclusion of the PEC process.

With this approval, the committee endorsed the draft of the text prepared by the rapporteur on the proposal, deputy Samuel Moreira. In the next stage of the process, the second round of voting, deputies may no longer amend the text. Under the regulations, deputies may only withdraw excerpts, the so-called “suppressive amendments”.

Voting on the second round of the Social Welfare reform in the Chamber of Deputies will be held on August 6th, as recently confirmed by Chamber President Rodrigo Maia. In an interview after the voting was completed, he explained that the decision was made due to concerns that the low quorum would compromise the text passed in the first round.

“It wasn’t realistic to end tomorrow with today’s quorum,” he said. “This is a multiparty construction, and this is what was built,” he added.

Senate

Rogério Marinho, the special secretary for Social Welfare and Labor of the Ministry of Economy, said he believes the Senate will approve the reform in September. If the senators reinclude the states and municipalities in the reform, Marinho argues that the subject should be addressed in a separate proposed amendment to the Constitution so as not to impact the deadlines.

When it is passed in the second round vote by the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal will be forwarded to the Senate, where it is analyzed exclusively by the Committee on Constitution and Justice and by the full chamber. There is no special committee. Legislators are also required to pass the PEC in two rounds in plenary session voting. Three-fifths of the total Senate seats, representing 49 votes in favor, are required for approval in each round.