An intense political dispute will involve the voting of the tax reform

The tax reform (Substitution bill to the PECs 233/08, 31/07 and 45/07), the bill on a Constitutional Amendment (PEC) of the Decree Laws (511/06), the review of the PEC of the city councilmen (333/04) and the bills on the election reforms are some of the matters which the deputies should debate again in 2009.
A large political dispute will involve the voting, at the House Floor, on the PECs regarding the tax reform. The voted text by the special committee, from the Deputy Sandro Mabel (PR-GO), is already being negotiated with the federal government and with governors since its approval at the collegiate.

The main dilemma is to find a formula which streamlines the national tax system, without causing losses at the collection of the states, the municipalities and the Union. Since the main change in ICMS is the collection of that tax in the destiny state of the ware or service, the producing states fear suffering losses which would not be integrally refunded by the regional development funds and of equalization of revenues, created by Mabel.
The debate should acquire additional ingredients, due to the impacts the international crisis will cause on Brazil, such as the drop in exports, unemployment and a smaller growth of National Gross Product (PIB).

End of the agenda stay
After the victories, both of the government and of the opposition in first turn, the Chamber still needs to vote in second turn the PEC of the Decree Laws, to send it to Senate.
The bill will end up with the agenda stay in case of Decree Laws, and sends to the Committees on the Constitution and Justice of the Chamber and of the Senate the admissibility assessment of the Decree Laws. The government got to maintain the need of absolute majority to invert the agenda, when the Decree Law becomes the first item of the agenda after 15 days of procedure.
The opposition, though, got to exclude from the text the possibility that the President of the Republic excludes a Decree Law after 15 days it has been issued, canceling its legal effects.

Councilmen
The deputies also will analyze the changes made by the Senate of the PEC of the Councilmen. The approved text at the Chamber recomposes positions in the municipal chambers, but imposes limits to the expenses by the legislative power in the cities. The senators maintained the re-composition of places, but refused the expense limits
At the end of 2008, the governing board of the Chamber did not accept to promulgate the PEC that way, since it evaluated that it is vital for it to include expenses limits. Thus, the matter should be reviewed again, for the deputies to decide if they will maintain the text authored by the Chamber or by the Senate.

If the device limiting expenses is maintained, there should be a savings of R$1.2 billion per year in Brazil.