The governors of Together for Change (JxC) met again to discuss the support to the Law Bases and Starting Points. Although they chose not to take photos, eight of the 10 leaders of that league met this morning in Uspallata, headquarters of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. They have an impact on a group of legislators who will be keys so that Javier Milei manage to approve the project he promotes. The Government needs support from allies to achieve a majority that allows them to definitively sanction the articles. Although not everyone agrees, the territorial heads agreed to support the Casa Rosada.
The meeting began minutes after 10, lasted nearly two hours and took place in a charming office at the headquarters of the Buenos Aires Government. Jorge Macrihead of the City Government, officiated host. The JxC governors league was formed in 2023, after the defeat of that coalition in the general elections. The 10 leaders sought to generate a general bloc and remain concerted to give governability to the Casa Rosada. But, at the same time, put pressure on Milei to claim provincial interests.
They are in contact all the time. By chat, calls and sporadic meetings. This week, most of them met in Buenos Aires, in the context of the debate on the Ley Bases in Congress. These are decisive days, given that the Deputies will debate the text tomorrow to give final sanction. The governors bid with the Government to unblock negotiations finals. The biggest doubts were in the Fiscal Measures Law, which is the tax part of the reforms promoted by the ruling party. He Income Tax and Personal propertytwo chapters rejected by the Senate, were the points of greatest attention for the provinces.
The governors decided to meet this morning in Uspallata to unify a political and public position. They resolved to approve the changes made by the Senate to the Base Law, but they influenced the deputies they control to insist on the original wording of the fiscal package. The objective is to restore the fourth category of the Income Tax and the Personal Property Tax.
Those who were present today Uspallata are the radicals Alfredo Cornejo (Mendoza), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy) and Leandro Zdero (Chaco); those of PRO Macri, Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Rios) and Nacho Torres (Chubut); as well as Marcelo Orrego (Saint John) and Claudio Poggi (Saint Louis). While the white beret Gustavo Valdes (Currents) and Maximilian Pullaro (Santa Fe) could not be present. The man from Corrientes because he is concerned about the disappearance of the child Loan Peña in his province. The man from Santa Fe due to scheduling issues.
Radicalism has conflicting positions. They are internal to the party. These nuances are reflected in the implicit fracture in the bloc led by Rodrigo De Loredo in the Chamber of Deputies and Eduardo Vischi in the Senate. Cornejo and Valdés have a position closer to Milei’s program. Especially the one from Mendoza. Zdero, meanwhile, moves in tandem with the man from Corrientes. They are old acquaintances and reconcile political positions. Pullaro is, perhaps, the one who represents the main difference. Aligned at the national level with Martín Lousteau, he expresses ideas distant from those of the Casa Rosada in terms of production, industry and the countryside. He does, however, have good agreement with Balcarce 50 in relation to the need to lower the fiscal deficit and inflation.
Despite these nuances, the radical governors managed to gather enough deputies from their bloc to make the restitution of Profits and changes in Personal Assets a reality. While the rest of the leaders will also support the Base Law as it came from the reviewing Chamber and will also accompany the insistence on those points of the fiscal chapter.
In the midst of these discussions, a group of legislators from the Civic Coalition and HCF raised the need to also insist on the reinstatement of the article 111 of the Base Law. This is the point that eliminates the tax benefits for the well-known “Tierra del Fuego Regime”. Something difficult to achieve, because the Senate vetoed that section with two-thirds. Therefore, it forces Deputies to achieve the same majority to reestablish the wording suppressed by the Upper House. It will not happen, but the deputies in question will ask that the issue be discussed to make their position clear.
While the Government gave in on privatizations of Airlines, Mail and public media, which does not obtain the numbers to reincorporate them. From the Pichetto bloc they blamed the Government for the fact that these are points that cannot be included due to an error by the ruling party: the reporting member of the Senate did not include these topics in the Bases session and, therefore, they cannot be discussed in the Lower House. Regarding the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), Deputies will accept the changes made by the Senate.
The provinces They demand funds from the Executive Branch to supply the removed from Income Taxtribute co-participatory. The previous government, under the management of Sergio Massa in the Ministry of Economy, had promoted the deduction of the fourth category of that tax. The measure implied a loss in the collection of provincial administrations.
Over the last few days there has been a tug-of-war between the governors and the government to avoid paying the “political cost” of restoring a tax that affects the middle class and, consequently, is bad news for their provincial electorates. Some leaders even suggested that the Casa Rosada should issue a statement to express its support for the provinces.
These issues were on the agenda of the meeting that a group of dialoguist governors had yesterday at the Federal Investment Council (CFI) with the deputies of Hacemos Coalión Federal and the UCR. There is consensus, finally. The way is paved for the Base Law and the fiscal package to have the green light.
