The special resilience budget, which includes NT$10,000 (US$327.39) cash handouts, passed its initial review at the legislature and could pass the third reading on Friday next week at the earliest.
The Cabinet on Sept. 11 approved a NT$550 billion budget, based on the newly amended Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例), which stipulated a budget ceiling of NT$570 billion.
The NT$550 billion budget includes NT$236 billion for cash handouts, while NT$20 billion would be reserved for future industrial support.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Lawmakers proposed 237 items for discussion, most of which have been resolved, but some have been reserved for discussion, as required by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), the convenor of the legislature’s joint meeting on the budget over the past two days.
The bill still has to undergo cross-party negotiations before it enters legislative meetings, he said.
More than 50 items proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) remain unresolved, which aimed to remove sub-budgets proposed by the Ministry of National Defense.
These sub-budgets include about NT$800 million for drinking water storage, NT$36 million for a swimming pool construction project and NT$120 million for a swimming pool revamping project.
Of the NT$550 billion budget, sub-budgets proposed by the defense ministry amounted to more than NT$113.2 billion, Ma said.
The ministry said it aims to “enhance resilience” by “strengthening national defense capacity” and “improving information technology operating environments and equipment,” but most of the proposed sub-budgets were about replacing audiovisual equipment, she said, calling those irrelevant to enhancing resilience.
The ministry’s Joint Operations Command Center also wants to purchase chairs for high-level officials priced at NT$50,000 each, Ma said.
The ministry planned to spend about NT$800 million to buy 500ml bottled water with special specifications and long shelf life in preparation for wartime, but that means the bottled water would cost about NT$120 each, way higher than the regular price, she said.
Many of the ministry’s sub-budgets were already proposed in the total budget for next year, and there were no budgets related to repairing or replacing old or broken bunkers, airport runways or armored fighting vehicles, Ma said.
The ministry yesterday said that they previously used bottled water that have a one-year shelf life, but given actual combat scenarios, the armed forces plans to bottle water that could last for five years.
Ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said that water must be stored at a certain volume and preserved at locations with special requirements, in preparation for war.
Regarding the chairs, Sun said that they chose ones with ergonomic designs and five-year warranties, as officials would be under high pressure for an extended time during war.
The ministry would reconsider its choice, given that Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday at the legislature said that he would not buy such expensive chairs for himself, he said.
The special budget could be put on the agenda of the legislature’s Procedure Committee meeting on Tuesday next week and then discussed in the legislative meeting on Friday next week at the earliest.
As Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has said that the Cabinet would request President William Lai (賴清德) to promulgate the bill as soon as it is passed, that means the NT$10,000 universal cashouts could begin distribution by the end of next month, if it passes the third reading at the legislative meeting.
On the other hand, the joint meeting yesterday removed sub-budgets totaling about NT$130 million.
It passed a 5 percent cut, or about NT$80.41 million, in media expenses for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which was proposed by KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆).
Other deletions included NT$60 million for enhancing higher education and NT$3 million in general operating expenses for a public shelter facility improvement project, which was proposed by the National Land Management Agency.
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin and Hsieh Chun-lin
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