The Executive Yuan was at an impasse due to the Legislative Yuan’s large cuts to the central government’s budget, so it had no choice but to cut local government subsidies, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
The cuts to local government subsidies announced last month sparked fierce criticism from the opposition parties, including the Taiwan People’s Party, which proposed a motion to urge the government to immediately disburse them in full.
The legislature passed the motion, sending it to the Finance Committee for review, which it did yesterday, with Chen, Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) and local government representatives attending.
Photo: CNA
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and others asked whether the meeting was illegal and unconstitutional, citing the start time of 9am.
Wu proposed an adjournment, but it was rejected and the meeting continued.
The Executive Yuan’s decision to cut local government subsidies by 25 percent is “extremely malicious behavior,” New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Liu Ho-jan (劉和然) told the committee.
The subsidies are extremely important for local governments’ budgets, and they are used by New Taipei City for social welfare, education and basic infrastructure, Liu said.
Whether cutting these subsidies is legal is up to the legislative and executive branches to decide, but from a local government perspective, it is “extremely malicious behavior,” he said.
The Legislative Yuan cut the central government’s budget for this year by NT$207.6 billion (US$6.93 billion), leaving NT$63.6 billion for the Executive Yuan to determine which budgeted items to remove, which has been challenging, Chen said.
The Executive Yuan repeatedly raised objections and asked the legislature to reconsider, but it upheld its resolution, she said.
The Executive Yuan is proceeding with a request for a constitutional judgement and would assess the situation based on the outcome, she said.
The DPP caucus said that the party has supported local governments and allowed them to prosper, adding that cutting local government subsidies is a result of the opposition parties slashing the central government’s budget.
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