A final review of draft amendments to the Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) was yesterday delayed after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus withdrew from cross-caucus negotiations in protest of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus “twisting” its bailout proposals.
The Legislative Yuan yesterday morning held a second round of cross-caucus talks, and the DPP had scheduled for the amendments — which last week proceeded to second reading — to be reviewed during an afternoon plenary session.
The proposed amendments, if passed, would serve as the legal basis for the Executive Yuan’s proposal to raise the ceiling of the special budget for COVID-19 prevention, relief and recovery to NT$210 billion (US$6.98 billion).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
As soon as the meeting began, KMT caucus secretary-general Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) presented a chart posted online by the DPP caucus, which contains wording that criticizes the KMT for pushing for the “indiscriminate” issuing of cash handouts to help people through the pandemic, without proposing any provisions for excluding high-income earners.
The KMT caucus was clear that the sizes of the proposed cash handouts should be inversely proportional to the amount of tax each household pays, but the DPP caucus deliberately twisted the KMT’s proposal, Chiang said, adding that it would refuse to proceed with the negotiations unless the DPP caucus retracted the chart and apologized.
The KMT caucus has proposed budgeting NT$100 billion for cash handouts, KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.
According to the proposal, households that are exempt from paying income tax would receive NT$20,000. Households subject to the 5 percent tax rate would receive NT$15,000; those subject to the 12 percent tax rate would receive NT$10,000; and those subject to the 20 percent tax rate would receive NT$6,000. Households subject to a rate of 30 percent or higher would not be eligible for a handout.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the logic behind the KMT’s proposal was “fundamentally flawed” because the tax rates were calculated based on last year’s incomes, and some people have only become jobless this year due to the pandemic.
In comparison, the Executive Yuan’s proposals target employers and workers who are hardest hit by the pandemic and are in most urgent need of relief, Ker said.
The KMT caucus held a news conference at which it unveiled its proposal while negotiations were ongoing on Monday, but the DPP had not been informed of them, he added.
The two caucuses then engaged in a heated exchange, prompting Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) to announce a break. Members of the KMT caucus later withdrew from the meeting.
The KMT’s withdrawal was tantamount to reneging on its agreement to forfeit the one-month period during which a caucus may freeze a bill, Ker said.
He said that he would ask Yu to call another round of negotiations tomorrow to hopefully pass the amendments on Friday.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
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