Lawmakers back from the campaign trail returned to their jobs for the first time yesterday, unanimously agreeing to get to work on the nation's budget.
Between Dec. 10 and Dec. 26, the legislature's 12 standing committees plan to meet on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss spending plans that fall within their domain.
Lawmakers took a recess for the entire month of November so they could campaign to keep their posts. Yesterday was the first full assembly of the legislature since the break began.
"The legislature cannot afford any further delay, as outgoing members including myself are due to vacate their office in mid-January," KMT lawmaker Liu Kuang-hua (
Starting Jan. 3, a full meeting of the legislature is expected to debate next year's fiscal budget. If all goes well, the package should be approved by Jan. 11.
Pressed for time, the legislature will likely be forced to extend its current session, which was set to conclude at the end of this year.
A motion to lengthen the session will be formally raised later this month, according to legislative clerks.
Spending for next year is projected to reach NT$1.6 trillion, down NT$37.8 billion, or 2.3 percent, from this year.
The government is forecasting NT$1.34 trillion in revenue, leaving a shortfall of NT$258.6 billion. The government plans to issue bonds to close the gap.
Opposition caucuses had earlier threatened to send back the Cabinet's proposed budget because it failed to take into account damage caused by typhoons Toraji and Nari.
The Cabinet submitted an explanatory note on Oct. 29 in the hope of speeding up review of the budget.
Though still unhappy, opposition parties yesterday agreed to quit their boycott.
"The time constraint has left us little room to continue protesting," said New Party legislative leader Levi Ying (
Still, there are hundreds of bills, including those necessary to put into effect the recommendations of the Economic Development Advisory Conference, awaiting review.
Caucus leaders plan to hold cross-party talks this morning to come up with an agenda for the remainder of the session.
The DPP's legislative whip, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), said he has urged party members to attend legislative meetings. Before the campaign break, only a handful of lawmakers bothered showing up to legislative sessions.
But Liu doubted that attendance would improve, noting that many of his colleagues are still fatigued by the campaign.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper. As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations. Taitung County last night announced closures on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but did not announce for the rest of the county until 6am today. Stock market settlements scheduled for today would be postponed to the next business day, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions
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