All against all, a Vietnam. This is one of the big names in the majority who describes the climate in the Ars Budget Committee for the approval of the 420 million variations. What was supposed to be “a walk in the park” turned into a showdown within the governing coalition itself and in the creation of a transversal axis between pieces of the majority, with the Brothers of Italy in the lead, and the opposition.
At the time of going to press, the commission had been suspended and the atmosphere was far from serene. An all-night session is expected, because today the quater maneuver will necessarily have to be hinged in Sala d’Ercole, to respect the work calendar of the budget session.
The tussle broke out over two laws: the one that finances student loans to pay university fees and the article on royalties, on which the government went down, thanks to the vote of the MPA, the DC and the Brothers of Italy , who voted with the opposition deputies.
On loans to university students, the clash saw the Melonian Fabrizio Ferrara, president of the Culture commission, and the regional councilor for the Economy as protagonists. Four innovations which in practice have distorted the original spirit of the text by Alessandro Dagnino. Paragraph 10 of article 24 provided that the Department of Economy and therefore the government would manage the measure. With the amendment proposed by Ferrara, preliminarily approved in the Culture commission and agreed with the education councilor Mimmo Turanosay those who followed the session, “the implementation methods of the measure on university loans will be established by the department for professional training”. This is news that would have greatly irritated President Schifani. Among the requirements for obtaining help from the Region, the ISEE ceiling of less than 20 thousand euros disappears. The paragraph regarding enrollment has also been abolished: university students in their second and not their first year of university will be able to take advantage of the loan. Not only that: the part that required the beneficiary students to find a job at the end of their university studies and to repay the loan was also omitted from the law.
Days ago, the ARS offices also expressed doubts about this article which finances the loans. Being managed by Irfis, Parliament’s technicians wondered whether the provision could fall within the mission of the regional credit institution.
Therefore, the attempt by the President of the Region, Schifani, was to no avail who, in recent days to avoid escapes forward of the allies, had tried to lock down the maneuver and prevented the centre-right parliamentary groups from being able to present independent amendments to the budget measure. But the Melonian Ferrara responds and sends the criticism back to the sender: «It was a very normal dialectic of commission, no brawl». But late in the evening there is another article that determines a further rift in the government majority, the one concerning the approximately 40 million royalties, the revenue in the regional coffers coming from taxes on hydrocarbons. The Dagnino law provided that these funds would be used not only for energy and environmental projects but also for infrastructure. But the Democratic Party, with Sebastiano Venezia, rewrote the law, canceling this possibility, thanks to the support of the MPA (Giuseppe Lombardo), the DC (Salvatore Giuffrida, replacing Ignazio Abbate) and the Brothers of Italy (Giorgio Assenza and Fabrizio Ferrara). Voting in favor of the government were instead the Forzisti Marco Intravaia, Gaspare Vitrano (replacing Michele Mancuso), Margherita La Rocca Ruvolo and the Northern League member Marianna Caronia.
However, an amendment was approved without problems allocating 1 million and 200 thousand euros in favor of the 120 former Blutec employees as income integration, already recipients of mobility in derogation. «A fair recognition for these workers who have experienced years of uncertainty and injustice», says the deputy commissioner of the League Vincenzo Figuccia.
However, President Schifani and the Councilor for the Territory, Giusi Savarino, were satisfied following the approval of the urban planning and home-saving reform. «With the implementation of the law, Sicilians will be able to benefit from the same rights provided in the rest of the country. We have implemented – they explain – the part of the law passed by the Meloni government which did not operate dynamically in Sicily, thus putting us in line with the rest of Italy in a series of long-awaited measures which, by remedying small irregularities, unblock the real estate market and they simplify construction. An objective that will allow new revenues for the Municipalities, which will be able to invest the proceeds of the measure for the redevelopment of the territory”.
