The National Congress overturned on Tuesday (03) the vetoes of President Michel Temer to the project that grants a discount on social security debts of rural producers and allows the extension of the debts of family farmers, reports Agência Brasil.
Parliamentarians kept the project called Refis Rural by 360 votes to 2 in the House, and 50 favorable and one contrary in the Senate. The leaders of all the caucuses in the House and Senate have guided the overthrow of the veto, with the exception of the Rede Sustentabilidade party.
The vetoed items reduced the benefits granted to rural producers for the forgiveness of social security debts, such as the pardon of 100% of the fines and the reduction of contributions to Social Security. In addition, vetoes to a series of articles prevented stretching of family agriculture debts.
Earlier, Congressional President Senator Eunice Oliveira (MDB-CE) had already made a commitment, after agreements with deputies and senators, to overturn vetoes. The measure was praised by parliamentarians, including the opposition. The leader of the PSB, Deputy Julio Delgado (MG), asked the floor to greet the attitude of Eunice.
“We are managing to overturn these vetoes. All this is the result of the agreement of this Parliament, which produces effective results to society, restoring what was by right, the fundamental issue of micro and small business and now Rural Refis. We are acting on what is important and that had been vetoed by the president, “he said, referring to the previous vote that overturned the presidential veto and maintained the refinancing ofmicro-enterprise debt.
The president of the Parliamentary Front of Agriculture, Deputy Tereza Cristina (DEM-MS), recalled that she was rapporteur on the matter in the House and defended the overthrow of the veto. “The producers are still not satisfied with these vetoes because they think the Supreme should have judged the unconstitutionality of this contribution, but I want to say that here we do a little justice, and there is an alternative way for those who want to join, pay their debts and be okay with the IRS, “he said.
Renegotiation of Funrural
The so-called Refis Rural was created in the midst of a legal impasse regarding the legality of the collection of the Rural Worker Assistance Fund (Funrural). The contribution was considered unconstitutional in 2011 by the Federal Supreme Court, but the Court reversed in March last year. Farmers have already secured a series of court injunctions not to contribute to the fund.
In vetoing the proposal, Temer argued that parts of the bill were at odds with the proposed tax adjustment by the government. According to the bill, the settlement of debts will be granted upon immediate payment of a 2.5% rate of the debt amount in up to two equal, monthly and successive installments. The remainder can be split up to 176 times. At the end of February, parliamentarians approved an interim measure sent by the government that extends membership to Funrural’s Refis for April 30.
In addition to the full pardon of fines, the project provides for a reduction of employers’ contributions to Social Security, from 2.5% to 1.7% of the revenue from the marketing of the products, but this device was also vetoed.
Family farming
Part of the stretches and rebates on renegotiations of family farmers’ debts to public banks, previously approved by parliamentarians, were vetoed by Temer in January of that year. With the overthrow of vetoes, family farmers can repackage their debts with Banco do Brasil, Banco do Nordeste and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
They will also have longer deadlines to settle debts, for example, with the Development Offices of the Northeast (Sudene) and the Amazon (Sudam). Defending the maintenance of the original project, ruralists argued that the benefits seek to treat family farmers equally with low-impact budget measures.