«With our amendments we defend the South and Calabria from a maneuver full of injustices». PD senators Nicola Irto and Antonio Misiani said this, speaking in Reggio Calabria during a press conference dedicated to the amendments to the budget bill presented by the Calabria PD through the regional secretary Irto. «The Meloni government’s maneuver – explained Irto – cuts healthcare, investments and cohesion, therefore dramatically increasing the territorial gap. All our amendments serve to stop this drift and put people, work, the right to housing, the ecological transition and strategic infrastructures for Calabria back at the centre.”
«The government – underlined Misiani – is hitting the crucial items for the development of Italy and especially the South, i.e. cohesion, environment and mobility funds. Our amendments safeguard these resources and allocate new ones to strategic infrastructure and essential services.” For the right to housing, the Democratic Party proposes to double the deductions for the rent of the main residence and to refinance the funds for rent support and innocent defaulting tenants with 900 million in 2026. The Democratic Party has also provided for the extension of the first home bonus under 36 until 2028, the restoration of the Green House bonus with a 50 percent VAT deduction on the first high-energy efficient home, the stabilization of the 75 percent deduction for the elimination of architectural barriers and the extension of incentives regarding renovations and earthquake-proof construction.
On the health front, the Democratic Party – it has been said – asks to align the distribution of the ex-ticket fund with the ordinary distribution of the needs of the National Health Service, to establish a fund of 50 million per year for compensation for health damage and to strengthen action in the most fragile territories, even with a health plan for Sin Crotone-Cassano-Cerchiara, an area with a very high incidence of cancer. Furthermore, an amendment is dedicated to the support of the internal areas of Calabria, the historic workhorse of the Democratic Party, with a 30 percent tax credit, tax deductions and IMU exemption in order to combat depopulation and the loss of services.
The infrastructure and mobility chapter is considered decisive, with numerous amendments from the Democratic Party regarding Calabria and the Strait area. In particular, the following are envisaged: an increase of almost 50 million euros for the Sibari-Catanzaro axis of State Road 106; 150 million in 2026 to start the fast and indispensable Bovalino-Bagnara road; funds for the waterfront and the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria; 40 million for the urban regeneration of the Sin of Crotone; 25 million in 2026 for the fast intermodal connection between the port of Messina and the Reggio Calabria airport and new resources for local public transport and intermodality in the Reggio metropolitan area; the establishment of a fund of 100 million per year (2026-2028) for local public transport in internal areas. In parallel, a series of amendments by the Democrats aims to block government cuts to the MIT programs on roads, railways, navigation and local mobility. «A strong message comes from Reggio Calabria – concluded Irto and Misiani -: this budget law cuts off the legs of the South and creates new, very serious territorial gaps. As the Democratic Party, we defend, with targeted amendments, Calabria and the rest of the South, which need resources, answers, rights and certainties.”