NewsWhore
12-22-2008, 05:30 PM
In an extra session this afternoon the Senate is preparing to receive the legislative proposal that authorizes the 2009 budget set at RD$328.99 billion.
The session is due to start at 4pm, and it is expected that during the morning the Executive Branch and Congress will reach an agreement on the approval of the initiative submitted by the Executive on 28 November.
Nonetheless, as of midday on Sunday, Diario Libre reported that the addendum that the legislative body had requested from the President had yet to arrive in the Senate. The addendum would eliminate US$1.9 billion in financing of projects over four years, and not just during 2009.
The senators are not willing to vote on the legislation if this financial maneuver is not eliminated and the president of the Senate, Reinaldo Pared Perez warned that the legislation, as it stands, is unconstitutional and in violation of the laws that govern the budget process, public credit and investment planning.
This idea has been described as "confusion" by Hacienda Minister Vicente Bengoa, who said that the US$1.9 billion for infrastructure investment that appears in the budget is really the global amount of a series of projects that will be carried out over the next four years.
The senators are also waiting to see if the budget will assign a minimum of RD$100 million for infrastructure projects in each of the provinces.
Some senators, including Dionis Sanchez (PLD-Pedernales) feel that the projects in the provinces are as high a priority as health and education, and this will move them to insist on this money being assigned to their provinces.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
The session is due to start at 4pm, and it is expected that during the morning the Executive Branch and Congress will reach an agreement on the approval of the initiative submitted by the Executive on 28 November.
Nonetheless, as of midday on Sunday, Diario Libre reported that the addendum that the legislative body had requested from the President had yet to arrive in the Senate. The addendum would eliminate US$1.9 billion in financing of projects over four years, and not just during 2009.
The senators are not willing to vote on the legislation if this financial maneuver is not eliminated and the president of the Senate, Reinaldo Pared Perez warned that the legislation, as it stands, is unconstitutional and in violation of the laws that govern the budget process, public credit and investment planning.
This idea has been described as "confusion" by Hacienda Minister Vicente Bengoa, who said that the US$1.9 billion for infrastructure investment that appears in the budget is really the global amount of a series of projects that will be carried out over the next four years.
The senators are also waiting to see if the budget will assign a minimum of RD$100 million for infrastructure projects in each of the provinces.
Some senators, including Dionis Sanchez (PLD-Pedernales) feel that the projects in the provinces are as high a priority as health and education, and this will move them to insist on this money being assigned to their provinces.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)