Cabinet tries to speed up job proposal

Amid heated debate, the legislature yesterday conditionally approved the preliminary review of one of two job-creation bills, with the Cabinet accusing the opposition of "technically boycotting" the legislation.

The legislature passed five articles of the first bill, which covers a public-service program, leaving the bill's funding to be decided via cross-party negotiations before the plenary session on Friday.

The legislature will discuss today whether to extend the session to review the second bill, which deals with public works.

Cabinet Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said she is disappointed that the bills aren't moving through the legislature faster.

"Opposition parties technically boycotted the bills by wasting time on unnecessary discussions and approved only five articles of the plan for public-service work during the eight-hour review session," she said.

Liu added that she is not optimistic the two bills can be passed during the legislative session, which is set to end next Tuesday.

"I'm calling on opposition law-makers to pass the two bills and let the unemployed have a happy Lunar New Year," she said.

Earlier in the day, Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) said the Executive Yuan might extend the two proposed job-creation programs for another year if they failed to lower the jobless rate from the current 5.2 percent to 4.5 percent by the end of this year.

Lin made the remark while delivering a special report on the programs at the legislature yesterday before four legislative committees began the preliminary review of the two one-year special bills.

On Dec. 18 the Executive Yuan approved two job-creation projects aimed at creating 115,000 jobs, driving the economic growth rate up to 3.52 percent and lowering the unemployment rate to below 4.5 percent.

The plan for public works, which will cost NT$50 billion, is expected to create 40,000 jobs and push the economic growth rate up by 0.25 percent to 3.52 percent by the end of the year.

The plan for public service jobs, which will cost NT$20 billion, aims to create positions for 75,000 unskilled and unemployed workers between 35 and 65 years of age.

The Cabinet wants the measures paid for with special budgets, which would exempt them from limits on the amount of money the government can borrow.

Opposition parties, however, preferred to amend the public debt law to raise the debt limit or to raise the the necessary funds by redirecting money from other sources.

Cabinet Spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢) dismissed the KMT's proposal.

"The proposal sounds far-fetched, because the money either has been earmarked for other purposes or hasn't even come in to state coffers," he said.

Tzeng Yung-chuan (曾永權), executive director of the KMT's Central Policy Coordinating Commission, said on Sunday that the government does not need to raise money for the two programs with special budgets because it has over NT$200 billion at its disposal.

In addition to the NT$18 billion employment fund, Tzeng said the Central Bank and Land Bank have a total of annual surplus of NT$32 billion, state-run Chunghwa Tele-com has an annual surplus of NT$1.5 billion, state-run Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp is saving NT$21.8 billion from salary cuts and there is a tax surplus of NT$140 billion for last year.

In addition, the government can still borrow NT$5.2 billion.