With smaller resources for Education and Health, the 2024 Annual Budget Bill (PLOA) was the target of criticism from various segments of society during a hearing by the Education, Health and Culture Commission (CESC) of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District (CLDF) .
PL 613/2023 sent by the government of the Federal District (GDF) foresees a budget of R$61 billion for 2024, against R$55 billion estimated this year, that is, an increase of more than almost 7%. However, the PLOA predicts an increase of just 1.4% for Education and 7% for Health.
The president of CESC, deputy Gabriel Magno (PT), said that there are errors in the calculations that stipulate the constitutional floors for Education, Health and Culture. According to him, there are errors in the Culture calculations, which were made based on wrong values and in the case of Education, resources for the University of the Federal District were included, as the CLDF approved an amendment that disregards university expenses from the 25% minimum.
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“When you deduct the University’s resources, you owe R$60 million to comply with the constitutional fund. So it doesn’t comply with the constitution itself”, explained Magno. “In Health, as well as in Education and Culture, what was supposed to be a floor became a ceiling”, added the deputy, highlighting that without floor legislation, these areas could have resources.
For the director of Sinpro-DF (Federal District Teachers’ Union), Luciana Custódio, it is essential that the government fulfills part of the agreement to end the teachers’ strike and summon the public candidates. “We have more than two thirds of the professionals who work in the classroom on temporary contracts”, highlighted Luciana, suggesting the resumption of the unified public service movement in defense of public competitions and appointments.
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Health
The president of SindMédico-DF (Federal District Doctors’ Union), Gutemberg Fialho, highlighted the low value that the PLOA allocates for hiring Health employees. “We have a completely outdated set of Health employees. So, the focus needs to be changed and we need to be present in these discussions to try to interfere”, highlighted Gutemberg, adding that it is necessary to improve working conditions and salaries to attract doctors to the public network in the DF.
According to the president of SindEnfermeiro (DF Nurses Union), Jorge Henrique Filho, the GDF follows the line of the government of former president Bolsonaro, which focused on the deregulation of primary care and the focus on specialization and privatization of Health. “We only have 60% of the territory of the Federal District covered by the family health strategy (primary care)”, informed Jorge Henrique, highlighting that the public network in the DF has a deficit of at least 1 thousand nurses.
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One of the representatives of the Public Ministry, prosecutor Vinícius Bertaia, said that he also analyzed the PLOA and drew attention to the large amount of resources for specialized care and the construction of hospitals to the detriment of investment in primary care. “We observed that investment in the area of basic and primary care, which for us is very expensive. In all the scenarios we work in, we always see that when there are investments in primary care, there are better results”, he assessed.
Other members of the Public Ministry, trade unions and representatives of entities formed by those approved in GDF public competitions also participated in the Public Hearing this Monday (25), in the CLDF auditorium.
Referrals
At the end of the hearing, the president of CESC committed to mediating a dialogue between members of the Public Ministry with the PLOA rapporteur at CLDF, deputy Eduardo Pedrosa (União). “We will officiate the CEOF (Economy, Budget and Finance Commission) so that all constitutional standards are complied with and also the important demands and observations that were made by the various representatives at today’s meeting”, assured Gabriel Magno.
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Source: BdF Distrito Federal
Editing: Márcia Silva
