Today, we break down the main points of the country’s pension reform. Bolsonaro loses another cabinet member. And the first major strike under Mr. Bolsonaro
Brazil’s pension reform, explained
After weeks of anticipation, the rapporteur of the pension reform, member of Congress Samuel Moreira, presented his report on the proposal—which is essentially the text Congress will vote on. Mr. Moreira altered at least 7 core points of the bill, in a bid to increase its chances of being approved (many of the changes we had anticipated in yesterday’s Daily Briefing). We explain the new rules:
- States and municipalities. Despite many states facing a dreadful financial situation, the report does not include state- and municipal-level public servants. Lawmakers believe local politicians didn’t show enough support for the pension reform, thus transferring the political burden of stricter retirement rules to Congress. As punishment, they won’t be included.
- Length of service. The minimum amount of years workers must contribute to the social security system will be 15 for women, and 20 for men. The original proposal had set a minimum of 20 years for both.
- Female teachers. Like law enforcement and rural workers, teachers already have special rules—so the government didn’t want...