Green light in the Senate for the budget law that now reaches the Chamber for final approval by the end of the year. A maneuver that, as highlighted by both Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the majority parties, focuses mainly on helping classes with lower incomes, from cutting the tax burden, going through the revaluation of minimum pensions to purchasing cards for poorest families. A budget law that, however, the left continued to attack and criticize. And so, yesterday morning, during the discussion in the Chamber, the leader of the League Massimiliano Romeo responded to the accusations with a joke: «Never has a center-left government made a maneuver as focused on the lower middle classes as we have. Comrades, cheer up! After all, we are making your dreams come true.” «This is a budgetary maneuver aimed at the lower middle classes and salaried workers, he continued – The confirmation of the tax reduction is an excellent measure. Today, when this center-right government confirms the up to seven points, it’s not good, it needs to be structural. Let’s be honest: it’s not good because a center-right government did it and not the left.”
Then he continued to joke against the opposition: «I am surprised that these barbs about budget austerity come from those who have made austerity their banner over the years. Having a vision means not leaving holes in the budget for those who come later. What did you want? An imprudent increase in current expenses, as some unions called for? It would have exposed us to rejection by the markets and the European Commission. Wasn’t that your intention? Sorry, that didn’t happen.”
Minister Giorgetti is satisfied: «We approved the State budget, it also includes what we did. Many criticized it, but as we live in difficult times – and we hope that there won’t always be war in Europe – we decided to help the most needy families, because we realized that unfortunately this war also brought a lot of inflation to Italian homes. Ignoring this would be ignoring reality.” Under-Secretary of the Interior, Nicola Molteni, highlights the attention paid to the police forces, for which more funds have been allocated. “Security is a priority for the government and the Ministry of the Interior. We have allocated resources important to the police forces for the renewal of contracts, policies, pensions and specificities. We are talking about 1.5 billion for the renewal of the contract in the public security and rescue sector, one billion for the Police Forces alone, with an average of around of 200 euros more per month in the salaries of Police Officers, Carabinieri, Firefighters, Penitentiary Police and Financial Police officers”.
Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers, in a quick meeting, yesterday approved the change in the budget due to the changes made during the discussion in the chamber. The net balance to be financed increases to approximately 198.9 billion in 2024, to 165.3 billion in 2025 and to 131.6 billion in 2026. The corresponding level of the net cash balance to be financed is equal to approximately 250 thousand million in 2024, to 209 billion in 2025 and 176.1 billion in 2026. Now the floor passes to the Chamber and the first opposition amendments arrived last night. These are the regulatory proposals considered most important, around fifty, and the presentation at night serves to allow the commission to evaluate the content more time. These include the allocation of funds for the Messina bridge to local railways and public transport, or the cut in armaments funding in favor of public health. But there is also a “monstrous” change to establish universal basic income. And the resources would be recovered through the classic leftist horses, the creation of a wealth tax, taxation on inheritances and financial income and the legalization of cannabis.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
