Opposition parties today plan to push for passage of their proposed amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) to better support outlying islands, after voicing dissatisfaction with the Executive Yuan’s version of draft amendments that was released yesterday.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed amendments to Article 16-1 of the bill and are calling on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to respect the rights of Taiwan’s outlying islands when drafting fiscal allocation laws.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved its version of draft amendments that would raise funds for local governments to a record high of NT$1.2 trillion (US$38.34 billion) next year.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The Cabinet’s version of the draft would increase the total amount of centrally allocated tax revenue, general subsidies and project-based subsidies.
The Executive Yuan has drafted a version that “tramples on public opinion” and is engaging in “unconstitutional and chaotic government,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said yesterday.
The draft completely deviates from the legislature’s original intent in amending the law: to fix severe inequities in fiscal distribution, the TPP caucus said yesterday in a statement.
The proposal is “a major regression for democracy” and “shameful,” it added.
Also up for discussion in today’s plenary session are amendments to Article 23 of the Referendum Act (公民投票法), also proposed by the opposition.
Article 23 states that the referendum day would be the fourth Saturday of August every other year and shall be nominated a public holiday.
Referendums used to be held along with national elections until the act was amended in 2017 to lower the threshold for initiating and passing referendums.
The TPP seeks to amend the act to bind referendums to national elections with the aim of garnering more votes in referendums, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said in August.
Today’s session would also discuss amendments to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) and portions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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