Lawmakers yesterday agreed to extend the current legislative session by two weeks to complete the review of an additional budget request of NT$11 billion (US$380.62 million) for a 3 percent pay raise for civil servants.
The decision would ensure that the pay raise proposal takes effect on July 1, as scheduled by the government, should the legislature approve the budget request before the legislature recesses on June 14.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has called a meeting for party caucus whips to decide on items to be reviewed before the legislature goes into summer recess.
Lawmakers decided to extend the session to complete reviews of the pay raise budget, a budget request of NT$4.8 billion for monthly pensions to be distributed to more low-income households, NT$2.9 billion for tuition subsidies for children under the age of five and vocational high-school students from economically disadvantaged families, and a budget request for state-owned and non-government enterprises.
They also decided to schedule a confirmation vote on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) four grand justice nominees — Chen Be-yue (陳碧玉), Huang Hsi-chun (黃璽君), Lo Chang-fa (羅昌發) and Tang Te-tsung (湯德宗) — before the recess begins.
The terms of four of the 15 incumbents on the Council of Grand Justices will end on Sept. 30.
New justices are to take the bench on Oct. 1 as required by law.
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