Government workers, teachers and military personnel would not receive a raise next year, which was pledged by the government, if the Legislative Yuan continues to boycott its review of the Executive Yuan’s budget proposal, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan warned about serious consequences of a budget boycott after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucuses teamed up to send budget bills back to the Procedure Committee.
The government would not have the funds to implement its policies if the legislature does not pass the budget bills, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as saying during a Cabinet meeting.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
“Even though the government can still access some of the legally mandated funding and budgets that have already been allocated for multiyear projects, none of its new projects or policies would be funded if the bills are not passed,” Cho was quoted as saying.
“This would hurt the central and local governments, as some of the funds are for projects they work on together,” he said, adding that the central government would continue to communicate with the legislature and defend the budget bill.
Lee also listed a series of policy proposals that would be affected, including NT$22.1 billion (US$693.99 million) that was to be allocated to fund a 3 percent raise for civil servants, teachers and military personnel.
The government has also budgeted NT$5.882 billion to subsidize electricity fees at schools; NT$1.1 billion to encourage teachers to work long-term in remote rural areas; NT$6 billion to subsidize cancer screenings; NT$5 billion to expand healthcare coverage to include new prescription drugs for cancer; and NT$6.885 billion to address a shortage of nurses, Lee said.
The boycott would affect plans to upgrade infrastructure on rezoned farmland and improve roads serving farms, for which NT$3.626 billion has been budgeted, she said.
Other projects that might be affected are: NT$1.148 billion to improve the safety of firefighters and paramedics; NT$6.95 billion to build new submarines; NT$10.45 billion to enhance road safety; NT$15.9 billion to conserve and manage water resources; NT$33.5 billion to fund the education of children up to age six, school subsidies and the adjustment of the teacher-student ratio; and NT$2.5 billion for national sports development projects, Lee said.
KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智?) said that rejecting the budget bills is the right thing to do.
“We are not siding with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for a budget plan that does not include sufficient compensation for indigenous peoples after implementing a logging ban and funding for an adjustment in grain prices. The bill does not cover funding needed should the government adjust healthcare point values, a promise that President William Lai (賴清德) made when he ran for office,” Yang said.
Yang also said that a 60 percent increase media spending would be given to pro-DPP influencers.
TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) defended the move to return the bill, saying that opposition parties are giving the Executive Yuan time to recompile the budget.
“Instead of admitting they are wrong and rectifying the situation, they are allowing their Internet army to criticize opposition parties,” Huang said.
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