Folha de Londrina, 21/08/2005

For deputy José Carlos Aleluia (PFL-BA), provisional measures are the only proposals that the government will be able to approve in Congress
Brasília - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva runs the risk of ending his term without having approved, by Congress, a set of projects classified as a priority right at the beginning of the government. This is the case with tax reform, the new role of regulatory agencies and the regulatory framework for sanitation. They are all controversial issues that were practically at a standstill in the Chamber, before the scandal of the payment of allowance to parliamentarians from the allied base to vote with the Planalto Palace.

With the worsening of the political crisis and the creation of three CPIs to investigate from the monthly allowance to the state ones, the chances of these issues advancing are slim. The exception will be due to the political reform, which should be voted by the end of this year in the Senate and in the Chamber.

”I find it impossible to approve complex themes. It sounds like an exaggeration to think that you can approve the tax reform, not least because it has been in progress for several years ”, summarizes the government leader in the Chamber, deputy Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP). "What is more advanced is the political reform, which we will approve here in the Chamber."

Despite ruling out the immediate approval of the tax reform and the regulatory agencies' draft regulation, the government leader is confident in the vote this week on the provisional measure that exempts from income tax the sale of residential properties and gives incentives to exporters in the purchase of machinery and equipment - the so-called MP do Bem.

For the minority leader in the Chamber, deputy José Carlos Aleluia (PFL-BA), the provisional measures are the only proposals that the government will be able to approve in Congress. "It will only approve MP and I have doubts until the government is able to approve this MP for Good", bets Aleluia. "Each day that passes the crisis increases and the government is shattered, is in the ICU and has no muscles to approve anything important, except provisional measures." In his assessment, there will be difficulties in approving even political reform. Hallelujah says that Congress will probably limit itself to approving the end of verticalization - mandatory for parties to repeat in the States the same alliances made nationally.

In the opinion of Senate President Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), the crisis is not affecting the work of senators. ”Here in the Senate there is nothing stopped. All important projects were voted on ”, he says. "We are demonstrating that it is possible to make the functioning of the Senate compatible with the CPIs." He gives as an example the political reform approved last Thursday in the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission: “We are going to pass, in the Senate plenary, this week, legislation that reduces the campaign period, among other things. The difficulty in voting is in the Chamber ”.

Members of the economic team consider that the lack of definition by Congress in relation to tax reform and regulatory agencies undermines the growth rate of the economy. After all, say the technicians, if the rules of the economy are not clear, entrepreneurs tend to give up or postpone their investments. Tax reform is an example of a lack of definition that impedes growth.

The central point of this reform is to standardize the ICMS legislation, the main state tax. Today, each state has its own legislation. Thus, if a company operates throughout the country, it has to deal with 27 different laws. According to a study released last week by the Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition (Etco), if there was a single legislation and the average rate fell from the current 11,5% to 10,7%, the Brazilian economy would grow up to 3,5% more and this This growth would generate 2,3 million jobs.