Relief funds to compensate industries’ losses due to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak should be allocated by increasing the budget for central government agencies rather than planning a special budget, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus said yesterday.
This way, such funds would undergo proper legislative scrutiny, as special budgets are often underused and are more difficult for legislators to scrutinize, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) told a news conference in Taipei.
The government allocated a special budget of NT$50 billion (US$1.66 billion at the current exchange rate) to help industries affected by the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, but only about NT$28 billion was used, which showed that special budgets are often superfluous, he said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The Disaster Prevention Act (災害防救法) stipulates that companies whose operations have been affected by biological disasters and other types of disasters are eligible to receive relief funds, which indicates that the issue is covered by existing law, Jang said.
Whether the 2019-nCoV outbreak would evolve into a major disaster that warrants relief funds remains to be seen, he said.
If a special relief act is passed, the agencies in charge of assessing the budget’s efficacy should report to the legislature, he said.
TPP Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) said that small and medium-sized enterprises have been hardest hit by the outbreak and should be given precedence for relief funds.
TPP caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said the caucus would not sponsor a special relief bill, as it believes the Executive Yuan should be responsible for that, as well as any relief plans.
As for home quarantine and reported breaches, such breeches might be avoided if those quarantined are provided with allowances so they can be financially stable during the two-week period, she said.
Lai, a former Taipei Department of Labor commissioner, also criticized the Ministry of Labor’s “disease prevention care leave” policy, which she called an extempore measure that lacks a legal basis.
Amending the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法), which covers parental leave, to include provisions on disease prevention care leave, would be better, as both scenarios involve parents taking leave, she said.
Although the ministry’s leave plan appears to lack a legal basis, it should be legalized before another outbreak occurs, she added.
As for working with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators during cross-caucus negotiations over relief measures and disease prevention leave, Lai said the TPP caucus would explore such possibilities when it meets with the KMT caucus on Friday.
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