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
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS