The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee today reviewed amendments to budgeting allocation law, despite opposition from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members, who called for review of the stalled budget before any changes to the law are passed.
DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said that reviewing the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) before approving a national budget would damage institutional integrity and paralyze the central government.
Photo: Cheng Chi-fang, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) responded by saying the current financial planning law is 25 years old and merits revisions.
Chen, who arranged the session as well as a prior public hearing on the proposals, said she plans to hold further reviews of the amendments until they are passed to ensure that all opinions are considered.
DPP legislators have called for the focus to be on the central government’s general budget first, which is still stuck in the Procedure Committee.
DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) held up a sign and shouted for lawmakers to prioritize the budget rather than the proposals.
DPP legislators Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) mentioned that amending the act would have major consequences, so discussions should include the division of authority between the central and local governments.
DPP Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) said this is not only about money, but also about duties and responsibilities, such as farmer subsidies and healthcare for senior citizens.
KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said that given the reality of how local governments rely on the central government for funding, the Ministry of Finance should also propose amendments to the law.
KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) rejected the claim that the KMT failed to review the budget for next year, replying that it has asked the Executive Yuan to submit a budget that reflects new allocations in accordance with the law, and that the processes can occur in parallel.
When pressed by critics about the rush to pass amendments and review the budget, Chen asked the Executive Yuan to quickly submit its own proposals, as the committee would not wait.
Of the 22 proposed amendments, none were proposed by the Cabinet.
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) was not present at the meeting as he was attending the APEC Summit, with his Deputy Minister Frank Juan (阮清華) responding to questions by saying that the amendments should take into account the needs of both local and central authorities to achieve a win-win solution.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Taiwanese singer Jay Chou (周杰倫) plans to take to the courts of the Australian Open for the first time as a competitor in the high-stakes 1 Point Slam. The Australian Open yesterday afternoon announced the news on its official Instagram account, welcoming Chou — who celebrates his 47th birthday on Sunday — to the star-studded lineup of the tournament’s signature warm-up event. “From being the King of Mandarin Pop filling stadiums with his music to being Kato from The Green Hornet and now shifting focus to being a dedicated tennis player — welcome @jaychou to the 1 Point Slam and #AusOpen,” the
RSS