The Federal Council meets on Monday and votes on the central social reform of the traffic light coalition. Despite approval in the Bundestag, there is a threat of a stop in the Bundesrat, since the federal states led by the Union reject citizen income. The decision in the Bundesrat in the ticker.
8:30 a.m.: Welcome to the FOCUS online ticker. The Federal Council meets from 11 a.m. on Monday and has two topics. First, the law to relieve gas consumers will be debated and voted on, then the central social reform with the citizens’ allowance will be an issue.
In the dispute over citizen income, it is now up to the Federal Council: the state chamber is voting on the central social reform of the traffic light coalition this Monday. After the Bundestag decision last week, the project could now be stopped for the time being, since the consent of the federal states governed by the Union is required.
However, the CDU and CSU reject the citizen’s income because, in their view, it reduces the motivation to accept a job. The governing parties SPD, Greens and FDP reject this. If the Bundesrat does not agree, there is a difficult search for a compromise in the mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat – and under great time pressure.
Before the meeting, the SPD again campaigned for the federal states to agree to the citizen’s allowance, which is intended to replace the previous basic social security system, Hartz IV. “Many suggestions from the federal states were taken up and clarified in the parliamentary process. A conclusion today in the Bundesrat is possible,” said the first parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, of the German Press Agency. “Hope always dies last for me. Citizens’ income has been passed in the Bundestag. It can also happen to the Federal Council today.”
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), on the other hand, reiterated his rejection: “We will definitely not agree,” he said on the ARD program “Report from Berlin”. The direction is “simply wrong”.
