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The calculations made by Congressman José Luis Ramón indicate that, if the law is eliminated, gas consumers will pay 50% more in the bill.
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To this end, and this is where Deputy Ramón – who is now a member of the Consumers and Citizens monobloc – sharpens his pencil, he drafted article 10 that gave the enforcement authority the possibility of including “benefit schemes and/or current energy subsidies, in order to recommend or proceed with its adaptation, elimination and/or replacement“.
Also, he established a “transition period toward Targeted Energy Subsidies (“Transition Period”), which will extend from June 1 to November 30, 2024.”
“The Cold Zone law is in dangeris at risk of being repealed by President Milei and by the Minister of Economy in decree 465. And so that this does not happen, this morning (this Monday) we have filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court so that the validity of the law is ratified and what they want to happen does not happen,” said Ramón.
The arguments that Ramón presented before the Federal Justice
What he explained Ramonone of the drivers for Mendoza to access this benefit in 2021, is that the national administration “confuses a subsidy with a fund.”
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Provincial deputy José Luis Ramón filed a complaint with the Federal Justice.
Photo: Twitter José Luis Ramón
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Technically a “subsidy” it’s a economic benefit provided by the State. And according to the regulations that govern this backgroundhe financing does not come from the National Treasury, but from a contribution of 7.5% of all gas users in the countrywhich feeds a trust intended to cover the discounts.
“All the money that has been collected and is being collected is surplus. It is perfectly enough to cover all users: the 429,000 here in Mendoza, plus the 4 million from the entire affiliated area. And there is still plenty of money,” said the deputy.
That is why, specifically, the demand that the Mendoza deputy made to the State is “so that they refrain from applying this decree to users established in the cold zone“.
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President Javier Milei issued decree 465, which, according to the provincial deputy, put the Cold Zone Law at risk.
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“This collective action that we have taken, we are going to transform it into a criminal complaint as well, so that they can be investigated for the crime of fraud, that is, Eobo, what they want to do is serious, if they intend to do it,” he warned.
“Each bill, if the law is passed, 50% more will be paid, double“, he claimed.
Regarding the “excessive consumption” denounced by the national government, Ramón explained that the DNU “omits that it is applied during 3 months of winter in cases of cold areas and 1 month in the northern area of Buenos Aires.”
Why is the decree unconstitutional, according to Ramón?
What the deputy explained is that “the Argentine constitutional order establishes that a right that has been acquired through the enactment of an act of Congress it can only be repealed by another law that implies that its repeal does not affect other rights recognized in the Constitution“.
And, furthermore, when it is an acquired right with constitutional status, it cannot be retroactively; but the only way to modify it is to improve and/or modify it for its best performance. And, furthermore, when it is an acquired right with constitutional status, it cannot be retroactively; but the only way to modify it is by improving and/or modifying it for its best performance.
The irregularities that the national State would have committed
The story of eliminating this law, according to Ramón’s words, began on January 1. The person in charge of eliminating this fund, he explained, is the Minister of Economy who “denied payment to the distributors of the funds collected by users during the months of January, February, March and part of April 2024.”
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The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo.
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For this reason, the deputy, through letters and documents, informed the President, the Minister of Economy and the president of the General Sindicature of the Nation, to “refrain” from trying to get their hands on the trust fund of gas users. home of the cold zone. “If they did so, they would be involved in a crime,” he explained.
According to their version, the Ministry of Economy began to send remittances to gas distributors and sub-distributors, due to the notification.
The modifications in the Base Law regarding the Cold Zone Law
He opinion of the Bases Law that reached the Senate brought relief to the pockets of more than 400 thousand Mendoza residents, that at least by this rule, the Cold Zone Law cannot be eliminated.
Article 5, until today, enabled the Executive to modify, reallocate or even eliminate trust funds, including the benefit for the coldest provinces of the country. However, the text added a clarification that prevents touching it.
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Javier Milei’s administration sought, with this article, to have the power to eliminate those “subsidies” or “funds” that were financed with money from the National Treasury. Given that the text of the initiative did not contemplate limits, the law that benefits the coldest areas of the country was in serious danger, despite the fact that it does not use State money, but rather a contribution made by the consumers themselves.
Specifically, what was sent from the Chamber of Deputies clarified that ““The Trust Fund for Residential Gas Consumption Subsidies, created by Law 25,565 and expanded and modified by Law 27,637, is excluded from the powers of this article.”
Cold Zone benefit data
It is a discount benefit that ranges from 30% to 50% on the total gas bill, aimed at those who reside in the cold areas contemplated in Law 27,637 of 2021. This benefit will be in effect until December 31 of 2031.
In total, it benefits around 4,000,000 users who live in cold areas throughout the country, of which 485,000 are from Mendoza.
The operation of the benefit is as follows: gas distributors absorb 50% of the discount and present a sworn declaration. Then, the national government returns the money from the trust, which is nourished by the 7.5% contribution made by all users of the gas system.
