Good morning! Today, Congress is in a race against time to approve key bills before going on holiday on Friday. Brazil developed a larger drinking habit during the pandemic. Emigration hits an all-time record.
Congress’s end-of-year rush
The House and Senate struck a deal to approve the 2022 budget by Friday, adding extra pressure to their end-of-year docket. Lawmakers decided to forego sittings between Monday and Wednesday of next week, beginning their recess earlier than anticipated.
Why it matters. Approving the budget on Friday will be a tough ordeal, as it depends on less-than-consensual matters which will weigh heavily on public spending.
- These include vetoes to the increase of the publicly-financed fund for political parties from BRL 2.1 billion (USD 369 million) to BRL 5.7 billion.
- Moreover, Congress failed to approve extraordinary credits on Monday for the creation of a subsidy for poor families to buy gas canisters — prices of which have skyrocketed this year.
Roadblocks. According to several members of Congress, parties have decided to play hardball in order to get more money through the so-called “rapporteur-designated grants,” chunks of the budget informally granted to projects handpicked by lawmakers in their own constituencies.
- These grants have come...