Budget Law 2024, when will it be approved? Pensions, Superbonus and Bridge: the government issues
When will the 2024 budget law be approved? This is a question whose answer is still uncertain even if, under penalty of triggering the draconian safeguard clauses, the maneuver will have to be definitively approved by Parliament by December 31st.
The time that should have been extremely quick is getting dangerously long, with the Budget law stuck for days in the Senate Budget Committee where the 2,600 amendments presented by the opposition have not yet been discussed, whose fate appears to be sealed: the bin.
In fact, the majority is concentrated on the only four amendments to the 2024 budget law that have been given the green light by Palazzo Chigi: pensions, security, funds for local authorities and infrastructure.
If initially we thought of a quick approval given the "zero amendments" diktat by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, now the timetable for the 2024 budget law appears to have suddenly become tight: it will arrive in the Senate on 18 December and approval at Palazzo Madama before Christmas, with the final green disc expected to arrive shortly before the end of the month.
The reason for this delay compared to the initial timetable is as simple as it is trivial: there is no extra money compared to what has already been taken into account and, consequently, the four amendments under study will have to be financed by as many cuts in the same sector.
This is what Palazzo Tesoro has been trying to do for days: if the square appears to have been found regarding pensions, questions remain regarding the Bridge over the Strait of Messina without taking into account the last-minute attempt to do something regarding the Superbonus.
read also Pensions, how much those who go there get in 2024 Approval of the 2024 budget law: the issues for the government The delay in the approval of the 2024 budget law, which should take place just before the gong of 31 December, is due to the difficulty in find the necessary coverage for the four amendments being considered by the government.
For pensions, the executive's will is to do an about-face on the penalties for healthcare personnel and other categories of workers, with the money that will arrive from the changes in the "windows" for those who decide to leave the world of work early.
The chapter regarding the Superbonus is particularly thorny.
When every glimmer of a possible extension seemed to have vanished, Forzista Dario Damiani – one of the speakers – appeared open to changes "let's see if there is some non-onerous solution in sight".
At stake, however, should not be stranded loans, but the "discourse of being able to close some state of progress of the works, which would lead to closing some construction sites in a non-onerous way".
100 million have emerged for the salaries and insurance of the security and defense forces, while the ax of the spending review towards local authorities will be reduced by 40%.
As regards the Bridge over the Strait of Messina, the 780 million provided for in the 2024 budget law could be remodulated on the development and cohesion funds.
There would appear to be no divisions or insurmountable obstacles, but the government is struggling to close the 2024 budget law despite the minimal changes that will be made in Parliament: one more reason to keep a low profile on the maneuver given the many promises that have been disregarded and spread over the five-year legislative period.
read also Bridge over the Strait of Messina: project, timing and length.
When will the work start?