Happy Friday! Today, public campaign funds to shoot up for 2022 election. Government gets breathing room as Covid inquiry takes a holiday. Remote work realities in Brazil. Bolsonaro plays down his risk of surgery.
Congress jacks up electoral campaign funds in budget law
Brazilian lawmakers approved the budgetary directives law (LDO) on Thursday, setting the guidelines for the 2022 budget. With parties from the left and right on board, lawmakers nearly tripled the amount allocated to a publicly-financed fund to pay for political campaigns, up from BRL 2 billion to BRL 5.7 billion (USD 1.12 billion).
- The LDO removes budgetary grants used to pay for education and healthcare programs.
Greasing the wheels. It also preserves so-called “rapporteur-designated grants,” an informal way for the government to dish out cash and please lawmakers by allowing them to finance projects of their choosing.
- The Brazilian press has described the mechanism as something created by President Jair Bolsonaro and which is borderline illegal. While opaque, it is neither new nor against the law, as columnist Beatriz Rey explained on The Brazilian Report.
Why it matters. This sort of move cements the image of Congress as a self-serving class. Ahead of an electoral process which...