The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Kretschmann: Without help, there is a risk of an unconstitutional budget

2022-09-27T15:11:04.205Z


Kretschmann: Without help, there is a risk of an unconstitutional budget Created: 09/27/2022Updated: 09/27/2022, 17:00 Winfried Kretschmann speaks at a government press conference in the state parliament. © Bernd Weißbrod/dpa These are turbulent times: the Kretschmann coalition is rotating its budget. The federal relief package will cost the state billions. Green-Black must hope for the tax est


Kretschmann: Without help, there is a risk of an unconstitutional budget

Created: 09/27/2022Updated: 09/27/2022, 17:00

Winfried Kretschmann speaks at a government press conference in the state parliament.

© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

These are turbulent times: the Kretschmann coalition is rotating its budget.

The federal relief package will cost the state billions.

Green-Black must hope for the tax estimate.

Stuttgart - Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann has massively increased the pressure on the traffic light government in the dispute over the financing of the multi-billion dollar relief package.

The federal government would have to give the states much more financial support elsewhere if they were to support the package, said the Green Party in Stuttgart on Tuesday.

He called for more funds for rail expansion, clinics, housing benefits and care for refugees.

The federal government must show its colors and say how it intends to shoulder the billions in relief for people and companies in need in the energy crisis.

Kretschmann emphasized that it was not possible for a large part of the costs to be passed on to the federal states.

“Otherwise we would run the risk of not being able to set up any constitutional budgets at all.

We cannot and will not do that.”

“Drive on sight”: the finance minister’s crisis mantra

The green-black state government approved its draft for the next double budget with a volume of 121 billion euros on Tuesday, but this is likely to change significantly over the course of the year.

On the one hand, the reason is the relief package - the federal and state governments do not want to discuss the distribution of costs until October 4th.

There are also numerous uncertainties and financial risks for the budget, said Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens).

“Drive on sight is still the right thing to do.” It is still unclear whether the economy will only be dampened by the crisis or whether one is “really going into the deep economic crisis”.

Many hopes rest on the tax estimate at the end of October

The "next milestone" for the budget is the tax estimate at the end of October.

There is still hope for a significant plus, because the public sector also benefits from the fact that inflation increases revenue from VAT.

Bayaz said that only after the estimate could one answer whether the country would be able to bear the billions in costs that the federal government's relief package would result in.

He also warned the federal government against overburdening the states.

There are conflicts in the traffic light “that have been and will be solved with money so far.

If this course is carried out on the backs of the federal states according to the motto: Now you just have to see how you set up your budgets in accordance with the constitution, then it is a situation that we will not accept as it is."

At the beginning of September, the federal government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP presented a third package of measures to compensate for the rapidly rising prices, the volume of which they estimate at around 65 billion euros.

Criticism came not only from Baden-Württemberg, but also from other countries.

The green-black state government fears that the state of Baden-Württemberg and the local municipalities will have to contribute 4.8 billion euros to the package.

Kretschmann increases the commitment to negotiations with the federal government

Kretschmann said an agreement with the federal government would be very difficult and made demands.

"Where there is an urgent need for movement from the federal government, and rightly so, these are the regionalization funds, the housing benefit, hospital financing and the refugee-related costs." The federal government must significantly increase the so-called regionalization funds for the railways for this year and in the future.

It cannot be that a cheap ticket is introduced as a successor to the 9-euro ticket, but that the federal states have to cancel trains because of a lack of money.

also read

"Get lost": Ricarda Lang is booed and insulted by crowds during visits

Ricarda Lang is criticized for the Oktoberfest picture: "Between mountains of meat, beer tankards and corona viruses"

The clinics have "gigantic additional costs" because of the energy prices, and here too the federal government has to make additional money.

Since more and more people are entitled to housing benefit, the country would also face “enormous costs” here.

In addition, the federal government must keep its promise from the spring to support the federal states more with the costs of refugees - especially from Ukraine.

Kretschmann also insists that the federal rescue package be expanded for small and medium-sized companies whose existence is threatened by the energy crisis.

"Otherwise, there will not only be insolvencies, but also operational closures."

Household should be wrapped up by the end of the year

Green-Black now got the parliamentary procedure going, because the budget for the next two years is to be approved in December in the state parliament.

The draft stipulates that no new debt should be taken on.

The coalition is also planning new investments of 1.38 billion euros.

In addition, the state wants to create a risk buffer of 1.46 billion euros - this is intended to cushion additional costs for the state due to inflation and reduced income from tax cuts, for example in the catering trade.

In addition, the country is setting aside another 1.3 billion euros for budgetary risks, where the government wants to make provisions, among other things, in the event that the costs for refugees and the consequences of the pandemic increase again.

This buffer is not intended to finance the relief package, a spokesman said.

Of the investments, almost 867 million euros are so-called inevitable expenses.

This means that they are necessary due to legal obligations of the state or previous decisions of the state government.

This includes, among other things, broadband funding, accommodation for refugees and the penal system.

The state wants to invest around 490 million euros along political priorities, such as climate protection, digitization, education and internal security.

The ministries must make a savings contribution of 600 million euros.

Hundreds of new jobs for schools

Green-Black wants to create almost 1,700 new jobs.

This is where the country invests the most in education.

The 1165 positions for teachers who teach refugee children will continue to be funded.

In addition, the country is hiring over 700 new teachers.

In order to take account of the increasing number of pupils, there are to be 500 new teaching positions.

In addition, 83 additional teaching posts will be created to relieve the school management.

120 new teachers are to help expand the all-day school.

There are also 267 educational assistants.

442 posts will be created in the judiciary, most going to the prison system.

412 new posts are planned for internal security, including 300 for the police.

There will be other posts at the universities and in the building administration.

20 new jobs are to be created in the ministries.

dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-27

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.