Brazil passes bill ensuring funds for welfare in 2023
A constitutional amendment, informally referred to as Transition Bill, was passed by Brazil’s National Congress after a plenary session in the Senate on Wednesday (Dec. 21). The legislation guarantees funding for welfare programs such as income transfer aid Bolsa Família, as promised in the campaign of the future government.Congress head Senator Rodrigo Pacheco pointed out that the proposal took 23 days to go from submission to promulgation, and makes sure that families receiving the Auxílio Brasil—which will once again be named Bolsa Família—will not cease to receive a BRL 600 allowance as early as January 2023. The bill, he argued, guarantees “minimally acceptable levels of human dignity to all Brazilians.”ChangesAfter the approval, the incoming government will have BRL 145 billion...