MPs to discuss post-flood emergency bill, revised 2023 budget
Ljubljana, 31 August - The National Assembly will hold an emergency session on Thursday to pass a post-flood emergency bill aimed at urgent reconstruction of damaged or destroyed public infrastructure and bringing aid to individuals and businesses. Changes to 2023 budget documents providing additional relief funds will also be discussed.
Ljubljana
National Assembly.
Photo: Katja Kodba/STA
File photo
The government passed the bill last Thursday and sent it to the National Assembly to be fast-tracked.
The college of the National Assembly president then approved on Monday the timeline of adopting the bill. The MPs agreed on fast-tracking the bill but the legal service of the National Assembly was critical of the short timeline as it had to review the bill in two days.
The bill does not bring only rights but also obligations like encroaching on property rights and new tax obligations, said head of the service Nataša Voršič.
The National Assembly will also discuss on Thursday a proposal for a revised budget for 2023 to allocate EUR 520 million for flood relief measures.
The parliamentary Finance Committee unanimously backed the proposal on Tuesday, and the Committee on Infrastructure, the Environment and Spatial Planning endorsed the post-flood emergency bill on Wednesday with nine votes in favour and none against. The only deputy faction to abstain was the Democratic Party (SDS).
The bill features four categories: measures to help households, businesses and municipalities and reconstruction and prevention measures regarding public infrastructure, watercourses and flood prevention.
The latter will be stepped up in another reconstruction bill planned by the government, Public Administration Minister Sanja Ajanović Hovnik said.
The Committee on Infrastructure, the Environment and Spatial Planning also okayed several coalition-sponsored amendments to the latest flood relief bill, including a proposal to take into account capital and rental income and a portion of tax-free performance bonuses when calculating the level of compulsory flood relief contributions.
National Assembly President Urška Klakočar Zupančič will convene another plenary on Friday afternoon to discuss the decree under which it will not be possible to challenge the latest flood relief bill in a referendum.
The bill and the supplementary budget for 2023 are expected to be passed without any difficulty.