States reduce cost to fight the virus

On Wednesday, the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado (DEM), proposed a 20% cut in the expenses of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary of his State to ensure the payment of the salaries of employees and direct resources to health. Governor Helder Barbalho (MDB), from Pará, announced that he will donate three months' salary to a fund to fight covid-19. In São Paulo, the Legislative Assembly and the City Council are expected to vote today on packages of cuts. In recent weeks, Caiado and the other heads of Powers of Goiás had been meeting to build a proposal that would cope with the fall in state revenue. The 20% cut in fixed expenditures of the state administration, excluding salaries, also applies to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Public Defender's Office and the Court of Auditors of the State of Goiás. According to Caiado, if the federal government does not pass on more resources, it will have to make cuts directly on payroll. "I'm at a standstill. I'm dosing according to the collection, but I can not lose the support of the servers. If federal funds don't get, the cost cut may not be enough and I'm going to have to go on the payroll," Caiado said. In Pará, Barbalho says he expects his initiative to donate salary to be copied by other Powers. "I have decided that I will donate, from this month, three months of my salary to the fund to combat the new coronavirus in Pará. The total amount is R$ 67,148.19. I hope this little attitude will encourage other Powers to join me," Barbalho wrote on Twitter. The Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp) presented yesterday a plan to cut spending that should generate savings of R $ 320 million. The amount, which is equivalent to a quarter of the House budget, should be invested in actions to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The project is being processed on an emergency basis and is expected to go to a vote on Thursday afternoon. The measures are expected to take effect from May 1. The proposal is to reduce by 30% the salaries and cabinet funds of the 94 Members of Alesp. The Board also suggests a 20% cut in the salaries and benefits of the House's commissioned employees, in addition to the donation of 70% of the Special Expenditure Fund and review of contracts. "We are presenting this project, in a very clear and explicit way, to reduce the operational cost of the Legislative Branch, making this important gesture, and we hope that the other legislative houses in Brazil will follow in this direction as well," said The President of Alesp, Cauê Macris (PSDB). The situation and opposition should vote in favour of the proposal. The City Council of São Paulo should also appreciate today a project that reduces by 30% the salaries of the city councilors of the capital while the state of public calamity is in force. The salary of the parliamentarian is R $ 18,991.68. The text also determines a reduction of 20% in the salaries of commissioned employees and 30% of the budget for overheads of the 55 offices. According to the City Council, "the measures represent savings of R$ 3.92 million per month, a total of R$ 31.4 million by December." In the House, it is also a bill to resume economic activities, which provides for discounts of Property Tax and Urban Territorial (IPTU) for traders affected by the closing of trade and extension of the validity of permits that expired during the pandemic. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo