Lawmakers yesterday passed an amendment to the Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), raising the upper limit of a special budget to bail out industries and people whose livelihoods have been affected by the pandemic to NT$210 billion (US$7 billion).
The new limit represents a NT$150 billion increase to the budget’s ceiling, NT$60 billion, passed last month by the Legislative Yuan, and the amended act is to serve as the legal basis for a matching budget increase proposed this month by the Executive Yuan for its expanded economic stimulus package.
Depending on the development of the pandemic, a second special budget may be planned, but its amount must not exceed the current one, the amendment says.
Photo: CNA
The planning and spending of the accompanying special budget, for which the Executive Yuan is soon to submit a request, would not be bound by limitations in the Budget Act (預算法), it says, meaning that funds allocated to one agency can be redistributed to another.
Exceptions are special budgetary items that have been annulled by the legislature, it adds.
The budget is to be sourced from surplus revenue from previous fiscal years and borrowing, which is not subject to rules in the Public Debt Act (公共債務法) that limit the amount of capital the government can borrow for the special budget in a fiscal year to 15 percent of the proportion used, the amendment says.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Two proposals tendered by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus — to waive or reduce business tax for operators in sectors significantly affected by the pandemic and waive their import duties — were vetoed.
At the start of the legislative plenary session, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) criticized the Executive Yuan’s policy for bailing out self-employed workers and freelancers, saying that requirements such as having participated in the Labor Insurance Fund and having an insured monthly salary of less than NT$24,000 to be eligible for a NT$30,000 subsidy are too strict.
He also criticized the Cabinet’s reluctance to issue cash handouts to people subject to an income tax rate of up to 20 percent, saying that what Taiwanese need now is a timely subsidy to help them through the pandemic, citing countries such as the US, the UK and Malaysia, which are giving citizens cash handouts.
However, the KMT caucus did not tender the proposal mentioned by Chiang.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said that the KMT proposal would have given even people earning an annual salary of NT$2.42 million a subsidy of NT$6,000.
Even lawmakers, whose annual salary is more than NT$2 million and who have no need for subsidies, would have received NT$6,000 under the KMT’s initial proposal, he said.
The KMT is trying to score political points with the proposal, but that would only encroach on the budget allocated for people who most need it; for example, taxi drivers, whose business has been seriously affected by the pandemic, he added.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS