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Bill: Revenue and Appropriations Act (I)
Details
Submitted by[?]: Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party)
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This bill proposes to change the allocation of funds in the budget. It requires more than half of the legislature to vote yes. This bill will pass as soon as the required yes votes are in, or will be defeated if unsufficient votes are reached on the deadline.
Voting deadline: August 3887
Description[?]:
| An Act to provide for the collection of revenue and for the appropriation of funds Part II: http://classic.particracy.net/viewbill.php?billid=444306 |
Proposals
Article 1
| Ministry | Current Budget | Old Budget | Propesed Budget |
| Head of Government | 499,000,000 KKR | 400,000,000 KKR | 400,000,000 KKR |
| Foreign Affairs | 14,534,000,000 KKR | 15,000,000,000 KKR | 15,000,000,000 KKR |
| Internal Affairs | 21,334,000,000 KKR | 21,000,000,000 KKR | 25,000,000,000 KKR |
| Finance | 5,395,000,000 KKR | 15,000,000,000 KKR | 15,000,000,000 KKR |
| Defence | 82,678,000,000 KKR | 80,000,000,000 KKR | 50,000,000,000 KKR |
| Justice | 22,731,000,000 KKR | 30,000,000,000 KKR | 50,000,000,000 KKR |
| Infrastructure and Transport | 60,000,000,000 KKR | 88,000,000,000 KKR | 100,000,000,000 KKR |
| Health and Social Services | 129,106,000,000 KKR | 135,000,000,000 KKR | 180,000,000,000 KKR |
| Education and Culture | 97,005,000,000 KKR | 120,000,000,000 KKR | 150,000,000,000 KKR |
| Science and Technology | 37,436,000,000 KKR | 32,000,000,000 KKR | 50,000,000,000 KKR |
| Food and Agriculture | 11,433,000,000 KKR | 27,000,000,000 KKR | 30,000,000,000 KKR |
| Environment and Tourism | 307,110,000 KKR | 27,000,000,000 KKR | 30,000,000,000 KKR |
| Trade and Industry | 26,656,000,000 KKR | 30,000,000,000 KKR | 30,000,000,000 KKR |
| Total | 509,114,110,000 KKR | 620,400,000,000 KKR | 725,400,000,000 KKR |
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 08:35:28, August 05, 2015 CET | From |  Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party) | To | Debating the Revenue and Appropriations Act (I) |
| Message | Mr Speaker, Today I propose a budget for all the people of Kazulia. It is a budget characterised by a sense of compassion and social responsibility which governments of the right have left to fall to the wayside for far too long. It is a budget that first and foremost ensures that the essential public services which we all value are adequately funded and supported by the government. It does this by reversing the savage cuts of previous governments which have left those services in a state of disrepair. It is a budget that believes in investing in our future, not ever-deeper spending cuts and grinding austerity in the pursuit of lower taxes for the most privileged. It is a budget that serves working people and disadvantaged people, and we one this side of the house are proud of it. This budget will increase funding on health and social services. We will spend, over the next year, 45 billion more kronen to ensure that our hospitals provide world-class medical care for all regardless of income, and to ensure that those who have fallen victim to circumstance will not be left destitute. We understand that this is not cheap, but it is the price we pay for a compassionate, civilised society, a society which supports the sick and the old, the disabled and the downtrodden. It is the price that we pay to ensure that the best of Kazulia, the altruistic and caring nature of the Kazulian people, and not the greed and grasping self-interest of market fundamentalists, is more fully reflected in government policies which seek to discharge and not to shirk our responsibilities to one another. These principles apply too to the justice system. There are those in this house who no doubt believe that people who have made mistakes ought to be incarcerated for as long as possible, or whose only objection to such an approach is the cost. We on this side of the house believe that these people ought to be treated as human and ought to be treated with respect for their rights and dignity, especially as we recognise that many people are forced to do difficult things by difficult circumstances - poverty, mental illness and so on. To this end we will increase funding on rehabilitation programs to ensure that everyone, even those who have made serious mistakes, can be part of our community and make a meaningful contribution to that community. Education and culture will see their funding boosted by 30 billion kronen so that we can have quality education for everyone. Again, this will cost money, but this government is committed to education and committed to the principle that every Kazulian child has a fundamental and inalienable right to the skills they need to provide for themselves and their families and to enjoy the fullness of our national social and cultural life. And when I say every Kazulian child, Mr Speaker, I mean the homeless child on the fringes of society just as much as I mean the child born to privilege, because we should all share the sunlit uplands of opportunity and prosperity. This government believes in a knowledge economy. It believes that material and social progress can only occur when we reach for the heights of scientific and technical innovation. And so we have decided to invest not just in education but also in scientific research, not just in passing on knowledge but creating new knowledge. We think that this is a far preferable approach to the 'race to the bottom' where slashing wages and working conditions is seen as the way forwards. This approach to economic growth is reflected also in increased funding for agriculture and environmental protection, which will ensure also the lasting sustainability of our way of life. Just as racing towards the bottom will destroy our society, so too will the encroaching dangers of climate change and environmental degradation. Finally, Mr Speaker, this budget invests in infrastructure. It invests in building more roads and even more railways, ports, regional airports and telecommunications infrastructure, because we cannot build our economy if we do not have mobility, and we cannot be a just society with social mobility if we lack physical mobility. It is the moral duty of every government to ensure that its citizens' horizons are not limited by the fact that they simply cannot get around. On the revenue side, we have also cut taxes for those at the lower end of the income distribution. In particular, I should note that if you earn less than 12,500 KKR, you will not pay any tax at all. That threshold used to be 2,500 KKR higher. In making these changes, this government reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that the most vulnerable do not have to pay taxes to support low taxes for those who are better off than they are. Of course, these policies, as I've said, will not come cheap. We are fully cognizant of that, and we do not seek to avoid that truth. We promised before the last election that we would level with the Kazulian people in a way that few governments have done before, and we will do that now. We will have to pay for our investments, and we will do so by raising taxes. There will be a new 65% tax rate for those who are at the higher end of the income distribution. We appreciate that this may not be a policy which is universally liked, but nonetheless it is important that we find the revenue to pay for a socially just and equitable society. It would also be remiss of me not to mention the fact that we now have a budget deficit. It is, however, equal to only 4% of GDP, a level which will come down as the economy grows and we taper off our infrastructure investment program once worthwhile projects have been completed. This government believes that this is a sustainable position for our national finances to be on, not least because we do not subscribe to the market fundamentalist view that balanced budgets are the holy grail of fiscal policy. There is nothing to be ashamed of in running a budget deficit if we are borrowing to invest in our future and our children's future. There is nothing to be ashamed of in ensuring that every Kazulian has a decent standard of living. So let us not have this rubbish about national debt spiralling out of control. Mr Speaker, this government is proud of this budget. We are proud of the fact that we have made bold changes - changes from austerity to investment, changes from coldness to compassion. And we are proud also that we have challenged the orthodoxy of fiscal conservatism. This budget proves that a Labour government can work for Kazulia. It proves that Kazulia once more has a government which believes that the values of the Kazulian people should define the policies of the Kazulian government. Together, we can build a more prosperous and more equitable society. I commend this bill to the house. Martin Sæterbø Minister of Finance |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||
| yes | Total Seats: 42 | |||
| no | Total Seats: 0 | |||
| abstain |
Total Seats: 32 |
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