As of: February 22, 2024, 6:00 p.m
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The MPs discuss the budget law in a meeting of the Brandenburg state parliament.
© Bernd Settnik/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Because of the budget ruling from Karlsruhe, Brandenburg has presented a supplementary budget.
The red-black-green coalition wants to increase it and defends the plans against criticism.
Potsdam - Two days before the state parliament's decision on the supplementary budget, the red-black-green coalition defended the planned increase of more than 220 million to almost 600 million euros.
Finance Minister Katrin Lange (SPD) pointed out on Wednesday that the majority of it was due to the financing of tariff increases.
This is necessary because the state has agreed to cover the wage increase for civil servants and there must be an adjustment for civil servants with children.
“All in all, the supplementary budget can be financed,” said Lange in the Potsdam state parliament.
The budget will be financed by increasing emergency loans, additional federal revenue and more money from the state's reserves.
The opposition criticized the supplementary budget, and the majority voted for the draft in the second reading.
The final vote follows on Friday.
With the changes, the coalition is planning almost 209 million euros for the tariff increase for civil servants alone, and almost 10 million for the tariff increase for student unions, theaters and orchestras.
The changes also provide for 18 new positions for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to combat right-wing extremism, 15 new positions for the central IT service provider for the judiciary due to the introduction of electronic legal transactions, as well as 12 positions in the Ministry of Health and 6 positions in the State Office of Health for hospital reform.
This includes 66 million euros for a financing agreement to move the Fangschleuse train station closer to the Tesla factory.
In addition, there are around two million euros for the planning of a second location for the state fire brigade school in Wünsdorf.
The increase in positions in the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is to be financed this year from the ministry's existing personnel budget.
The new positions for judicial IT are to be covered by eliminating low-paid positions and within the judicial budget.
The funds for the Fangschleuse station are to be paid for from unused funds.
The supplementary budget is originally a consequence of the budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.
It had decided that the federal government was not allowed to set aside emergency loans for later years.
Before Christmas, the state parliament declared an extraordinary emergency situation again separately for 2024 in order to secure the Brandenburg aid package to cushion the consequences of the Ukraine war.
The Germany Ticket is no longer financed from the aid package, but from regular budget funds.
Around 1.9 million euros have already been earmarked for the planned payment card for asylum seekers in the supplementary budget.
With changes, the budget has a volume of 16.9 billion euros.
The financial politicians Jörg Vogelsänger (SPD), Steeven Bretz (CDU) and Thomas von Gizycki (Greens) defended the budget.
The AfD parliamentary group doubts that there is an emergency, also with a view to six percent economic growth in the first half of 2023. “We have filed a constitutional complaint and still do not see the emergency situation as a given,” said AfD financial politician Andreas Galau.
The left-wing faction considers the supplementary budget to be a “sham giant”.
MP Ronny Kretschmer demanded more money for municipalities and hospitals.
The Free Voters were also critical.
dpa