The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus and an Executive Yuan negotiation team are to hold a meeting today to decide which draft bills will be given priority in the new legislative session starting tomorrow.
More than 20 draft bills are expected to be given priority, including amendments to the Housing Act (住宅法), the Electricity Act (電業法) and the pension system, sources said.
Priority bills that did not pass legislative review in the previous session are to be on the agenda, including a draft presidential transition act, a draft transitional justice act and draft amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) they added.
A draft cross-strait agreement oversight act is not expected to be a main battleground during the new legislative session, as the Cabinet and DPP legislators believe it is not necessary to rush the legislation at a time when relations with China are unclear, the sources said.
Draft amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which would implement a five-day workweek with a mandatory day off and a “flexible” rest day to unify workers’ leave, are likely to be a point of contention, because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Power Party are against the amendments, they said.
The Executive Yuan aims to pass proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act by the end of next month, but is prepared for delays in the review process, the sources said, adding that it is determined to pass the legislation.
The Cabinet would drop an additional 0.5 percent business tax that was proposed to fund long-term care services and would instead seek to fund the service through estate and gift taxes, the source said.
“Revision of the Electricity Act is key to the deregulation of the power industry and the success of the government’s anti-nuclear-power, development, energy and environmental protection policies,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
“The legislation has been disrupted and stigmatized, as the Taiwan Power Labor Union opposes it due to fears that Taiwan Power Co [Taipower] would be privatized and the union would be reorganized,” he added.
Ker said he backed legislation that seeking to deregulate the telecommunications and oil refining markets, adding that revisions to the Electricity Act are necessary to allow private power companies to break Taipower’s monopoly.
Priority bills proposed by the DPP caucus that passed the floor in the previous session include amendments to the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法), the Income Tax Act (所得稅法) and the Local Government Act (地方制度法).
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: The large local outbreak makes travel restrictions ineffective, the health minister said, while travel agents are asking for a reopening policy Reopening the borders “is just a matter of time,” the Central Epidemic Command Center said yesterday, after Japan announced that Taiwanese travelers would soon be able to visit the country in package tours. Japan on Thursday said that its borders would reopen gradually, starting with travelers from 98 countries and regions on its “blue” list, which represents places with the lowest risk of infection, including Taiwan. On-arrival COVID-19 tests and quarantine requirements are being waived for travelers from a blue-listed country or region, Japanese officials said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a daily news
People should look out for eight signs of acute encephalitis in children and seek emergency medical treatment if they occur, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The symptoms are a body temperature of at least 41°C, impaired consciousness, excessive sleepiness, a persistent headache, vomiting, involuntary muscle twitching (myoclonic jerks), convulsions and an unsteady gait, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. The symptoms were spelled out in the “Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Acute COVID-19 Encephalitis in Children,” drawn up by members of the Taiwan Pediatric Association