The Chamber of Deputies definitively sanctioned the Basic Law and the tax packageand He gave Javier Milei’s government its first 2 laws after 6 months of intense debates.
After a 14-hour session with perfect attendance, the deputies endorsed with 147 votes in favor, 107 votes against and 2 abstentions the Basic Law –accepting the changes to the wording proposed by the Senate– and with 144 votes in favor, 108 votes against and 3 abstentions the general approval of the fiscal package.
Besides, The ruling party managed to reinstate –with tighter majorities– the chapter on income tax and the one on Personal propertywhich had been rejected by the Senate. Meanwhile, article 111, which required the Executive to send a proposal to cut tax spending within 60 days – and was the third point on which the ruling party and the allied opposition had proposed insisting – did not obtain two-thirds. to move forward, so it was left out of the final text.
Which blocks voted for and against the Bases Law in the House of Representatives?
The Voting on the Basic Law It was carried out on the majority opinion signed last Tuesday in the General Legislation, Budget and Finance and Constitutional Affairs commissions.
In order to reach an agreement with the opposition, it was decided to endorse all of the modifications made by the Senate and remove one of the main flags of President Javier Milei: Airlines, the Post Office and Argentine Radio and Television will not be part of the list of companies to be privatized. This opinion obtained in the session room 147 votes in favor, 107 votes against and 2 abstentions.
The endorsements were provided by the 38 deputies of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), 37 of PRO, 34 of the Unión Cívica Radical (UCR), 13 of Hacemos Coalición Federal, 8 of Innovación Federal, 5 of Coalición Cívica, 3 of MID, 3 of the Tucumanos of Independencia, 2 of Buenos Aires Libre, 2 of Production and Work, 1 of CREO, 1 of Por Santa Cruz and 1 of Movimiento Popular Neuquino.
The 99 deputies from Unión por la Patria (UP), the 5 from the Left Front (FIT), the 2 socialists from Hacemos and Natalia de La Sota from Córdoba, who belongs to this same bench, voted against. While Mónica Frade (CC) and Sergio Acevedo (Por Santa Cruz) abstained.
Which blocks voted for and against the fiscal package in the House of Representatives?
When voting on the fiscal package in general, the numbers were similar: 144 endorsements, 108 rejections and 3 abstentions.
However, the crux of the matter was at the time of the particular vote, where the ruling party sought – and succeeded – to reinstate the chapter on the income tax and the personal property tax. The first of these obtained 136 votes in favour, 116 votes against and 3 abstentions.
The 38 from LLA were accompanied by 35 members of the PRO (except Ana Clara Romero from Chubut, who answers to the governor of Chubut, Ignacio Torres), 25 radicals who answer to the head of the bench Rodrigo De Loredo and the governors, 12 deputies from Hacemos Coalión Federal, 8 deputies from allied provincial parties, 7 from Federal Innovation, 5 from the Civic Coalition, the 3 Tucumans who respond to Governor Osvaldo Jaldo (Independencia) and another 3 UP deputies who respond to the governor of Catamarca, Raúl Jalil: Sebastian Nóblega, Beatriz Ávila and Dante López Rodríguez.
95 UP deputies, 5 from FIT, the 4 radicals who answer to Facundo Manes plus another 4 from Martín Lousteau, 4 deputies from Hacemos (2 socialists, the oil unionist Jorge “Loma” Ávila and Natalia De la Sota from Córdoba), and 4 Patagonian deputies: Sergio Acevedo from Chubut (For Santa Cruz), Osvaldo Llancafilo from Neuquén (MPN) and Agustín Domingo from Río Negro (Together We Are Río Negro), in addition to Ana Clara Romero (PRO) were against it.
The following abstained: Mónica Frade (CC), Silvana Ginocchio (UP) from Catamarca and Roxana Reyes (UCR) from Santa Cruz; while her fellow countryman José Luis Garrido (Santa Cruz) was absent.
Meanwhile, the approval of the incorporation of the chapter on Personal Property had an even closer vote, with 134 votes in favor, 118 against and 3 abstentions.
Unlike the Ganancias bill, Unión por la Patria again expressed its opposition without qualifications; which was compensated by the fact that the entire PRO and Innovación Federal were in favor. Of the radicals, Reyes –who previously abstained– and Tetaz –who had voted against Ganancias–, were in favor this time.
Meanwhile, the government suffered more losses among its allies in Hacemos Coalición Federal: Nicolás Massot and Margarita Stolbizer abstained, while Emilio Monzó and Florencio Randazzo voted against, as they had already done in April.
Finally, the recovery of article 111 (which required the Executive to submit a proposal for tax spending cuts within 60 days) needed approval by two-thirds of those present, something that was not achieved. In the vote, it received 148 positive votes and 107 negative votes. The 99 UP deputies, the 5 from the left, Chubut Jorge “Loma” Ávila and 2 Tierra del Fuego deputies: Héctor “Tito” Stefani, from PRO, and Santiago Pauli, from LLA, voted against it; while José Garrido from Santa Cruz was absent. The rest of the political spectrum voted in favor.
What does the sanctioned text of the Bases Law say?
The text sanctioned this Friday morning declares 4 emergencies for one year: the administrative, economic, financial and energy emergencies remain. In addition, it delegates powers to the Executive Branch also in administrative and emergency matters.
Authorizes the national government to eliminate or transform public trust funds, guaranteeing equivalent resources to their beneficiaries. The Trust Fund for Residential Gas Consumption Subsidies is excluded.
Besides, regulates the power of the Executive to intervene in public entities and lists a series of exclusions: Conicet, INCAA, Enacom, UIF, INTA, INTI and ANMAT, among others.
In the labor chapter, it proposes incentives for labor registration; modifies article 2 of the Labor Contract Law regarding the scope of application; extends the trial period from 3 to 6 months; establishes that through a collective labor agreement, the compensation regime may be replaced by a severance fund, the cost of which will be borne by the employer.
It also establishes an increase in compensation for discriminatory dismissal; It considers blockages to be an objective cause for dismissal and maintains the reforms to articles 29 -on Intermediation, Solidarity and Subsidiarity- and 136 -on Contractors and Intermediaries- of the LCT. It also incorporates a chapter on independent workers, who may have up to 3 workers -also independent- to carry out a productive enterprise.
However, the labour whitewashing, the modifications to the Law of Trade Union Associations – making contributions voluntary – and the reform that incorporated new sectors and minimum benefits to Law 25.877, on essential services, and the penal sanctions for cases of blockades, were left behind. These were not included in the final sanction of the Bases Law.
Other important points:
- Authorizes the total or partial privatization of some public companies, such as AySA and Yacimientos Carboníferos Río Turbio (YCRT). Aerolíneas Argentinas, Correo and RTA were left out.
- Contains regulations for public employment within the framework of State reform.
- Authorizes the renegotiation or termination of public works contracts or the provision of goods and services due to emergency situations.
- Modifies Laws 17,319 on Hydrocarbons; 17,520 on Concessions; and 24,076 on Natural Gas.
- Creates a Regime of Incentives for Large Investments (RIGI) in projects in the forestry industry, tourism, infrastructure, mining, technology, steel, energy, oil and gas sectors. It is for disbursements greater than US$200 million
- The increase in the tax on cigarettes from 70% to 73% was maintained, as was the inclusion of Tabacalera Sarandí among the entities affected by the tax.
*Julieta Cravero, Doris Stauber and Lorena Zapata, from Agencia Esfera Pública
