Coalition argues about additional relief for citizens

Created: 06/19/2022, 12:07 p.m

How can citizens be further relieved?

© Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

More money for Hartz IV recipients and pensioners - and further relief?

That would cost a lot of money.

However, the finance minister wants to comply with the debt brake in the coming year.

Berlin - The traffic light coalition is arguing about additional relief for citizens in view of the sharp rise in energy and food prices.

Green leader Ricarda Lang told the "Bild am Sonntag": "There will be further relief.

The increased gas and electricity prices have not yet fully reached the people.” Like SPD leader Saskia Esken before, Lang questioned the compliance with the debt brake planned by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) in 2023.

On Wednesday, the heads of the SPD, Greens and FDP want to meet for a coalition committee.

comply with the debt brake again

FDP boss Lindner insists that the federal government once again comply with the debt brake suspended in the corona pandemic.

The debt brake enshrined in the Basic Law only allows for minimal borrowing.

In recent years it has been suspended due to the high burden of the corona pandemic.

Lindner now wants to prioritize projects.

At the beginning of July, the cabinet wants to decide on the draft budget.

"To combat inflation, the state must end politics on credit," Lindner told the "Welt am Sonntag".

"From now on, generating wealth must be more important than distributing it." The state paid a good four billion euros in interest last year.

"It cannot be ruled out that next year it will be up to 30 billion euros.

The rising interest rates are a signal to turn around.” Without the FDP, there would be “endless” debt and tax increases.

Lang, on the other hand, said: “The decisive question is not whether we will suspend the debt brake at all costs or comply, but whether we will meet the challenges of our time.

One thing is clear for us Greens: We will not save on social issues.

Not because of citizen income, not because of basic child security, not because of the necessary relief for poorer households.” She justified this with social peace.

“If we save on social spending, more people may slide into poverty and lose trust in the state.

This endangers the foundations of our democracy.”

Tank discount and 9 euro ticket

The coalition had so far decided on two relief packages.

These include the tank discount and the 9-euro ticket in local and regional transport.

Lang described the 9-euro ticket as a huge success.

“We are now investigating whether people are really switching from the car to the train because of the ticket.

If that is the case, we in the coalition must definitely talk about how we can build on this success.” Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), on the other hand, calls for more structural reforms in public transport before there should be more money.

Lang also said: “In the case of future relief, we clearly have to be more targeted, for example by socially staggering grants.

And we have to change something in the long term.” The Hartz IV rate should increase by around 50 euros, as proposed by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD).

In the case of future relief, the Greens also wanted to take people with small pensions into account.

Social organizations had criticized that pensioners would benefit little from the relief packages.

No higher Hartz IV standard rates

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr rejected the demand for higher Hartz IV standard rates in the "Bild" newspaper (Monday).

"The Hartz IV rates are correctly automatically adjusted to inflation.

Unfortunately, the tax rates for employees are different.

Due to inflation, the tax burden increases without people actually having higher incomes.” Just as with Hartz IV, one could think about automatically adjusting income tax rates to inflation in the future.

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The FDP wants to focus on combating so-called cold progression.

This is a kind of creeping tax increase, when a salary increase is completely eaten up by inflation, but still results in higher taxation.

"Cold progression is a tax increase through omission," said Lindner.

dpa