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[Lykens]

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Federal Congress begins end of year dash to complete legislative work

10/04/2021

- Amaro Villaverde

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President Kenneth Diaz after several meetings with Congressional Leaders

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Speaker of the Grand Assembly Calista Borja and the Association of Ranchers and Planters Assembly leadership team ended nearly 8 hours of meetings with the President and his staff today as they work to finalize language for authorizations of the various executive departments and their programs. The meetings with Assembly leaders caps a weekend of intense negotiations with Senate leaders on Friday, when the President also revealed his 2022 budget outline to Senate Budget Committee members Friday evening. Stronger than expected economic growth from the rebound of the economic collapse of 2020 has filled federal coffers, and many expect the administration to pursue tax cuts to juice consumer spending for the next fiscal year. Comptroller General Faustino del Bosque testified before the Assembly Tax and Budget Committee early last week that the administration expected to propose tax cuts for lower earners and small businesses, and continue their reduction of certain tariffs.

While Tax and Budget Committee chairman Maximiliano Artemio de Santiago castigated the administration’s intended moves to relax tariffs as ‘misguided and potentially dangerous to Lykensburgish industry,” del Bosque pushed back on the veteran Assembly Member by pointing out the relaxation of tariffs has been reciprocal in other nations around Olympus, and allowed for the growth of Lykensburgish industry. Chairman de Santiago is a close ally of President Diaz, and few expect him to put up a fight against the broader budget over tariff reductions, which are expected to be moved separately. A senior member of the committee speaking freely on the condition of anonymity said that, "Kenneth and Max speak almost every day, Max is one of the cogs in the machine that helps get his agenda through, and he's loath to do anything to upset him. Kenneth became speaker because of Max's support and he hasn't forgotten that, even though he's president of the entire Federal Republic now. He'll tread lightly, but at the end of the day he's still president."

Tensions between Diaz and the National Liberal Union, the right leaning faction of the Association, have since abated as the recession has slowly withdrawn, coinciding with the drawdown of federal deficit spending to combat its effects. Many analysts believe the tax cuts to be proposed as well as tariff reduction are gifts to soften the issues between the NLU and the rest of the party, although opposition is expected from the Labor Forum and Old Guard on tariff reduction, it is expected to be passed with substantial support from the Civic Union. Sources in the Senate say that Senate CU Chair Valentín Escamilla is agitating against tariff reduction, seeing it as aiding and abetting the current administration of his rival, who has trounced him in two consecutive elections once for Speaker of the Grand Assembly almost a decade ago, and more recently for President in the 2020 elections. Not wanting to provide a gift for the administration ahead of the 2022 midterms. His deputy, Senator Tiburcio Melendez the leader of the conservative faction of the CU is opposed to Escamilla's stance and sources say that it has opened another front in their shadowboxing for the leadership of the party.

As the ARP factions battle for dominance in the provinces, their factional fighting has bled more and more into the workings of the Federal Republic. While the Liberal Centre faction, led by President Diaz, is dominant on the federal level and rules a majority of the provinces where the ARP operates, the rival NLU has grown increasingly uncomfortable with the increasingly left lean of his administration, aided by support from the Labor Forum and parts of the Old Guard. Isolated and from what sources say increasingly shut out of major policy decisions, NLU members have begun striking back at major legislation and must pass legislation to exert some influence on policy making. In an earlier move to placate his right wing, the President appointed several NLU members to high ranking positions in his administration, which for some time alleviated tensions.

With existing authorizations expiring at the end of the month, time is of the essence to draft bills and begin muscling them through the Federal Congress. Authorization bills are separate from the annual appropriations bills that are needed to fund the executive departments, as they authorize the funding provided as well as a variety of programs operated by the departments. The appropriations process is treated as regular housework for the Federal Congress, and the process is usually carried out without fanfare before the end of every October, when both houses of the legislature typically take their autumnal recess. In recent years, partisan sniping and tensions have thrown up more and more roadblocks that have dragged out the process. This year is especially different, as congressional leadership has had to contend with the factional infighting of the ARP, which holds a majority in the Grand Assembly, and for the first time in decades, a majority in the Senate, which is usually led by the largest party, rather than a majority.

Augusto Serrano, the president’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs, pledged that the bills would be passed before the end of October deadline, and that the President would sign them immediately after. “This is not a factional issue. The factions of the Association all hold a range of views, even within their own groups, and that is not hindering the regular government process. But we are recovering from a terrible recession and as a result, spending levels and program authorizations need to be reviewed and assessed for the present moment.” When pressed on the entirety of the year as more than enough time for review, Serrano directed comment to Press Secretary Adrián Banderas, and went on his way.

Assembly Member Ulises Prieto, CU Leader in the Grand Assembly, lambasted the ARP majority, saying that, “They had almost the entire year at this point, months and months, to get these authorization bills out of committee. Instead they spent months haggling over appointments and turf wars between their factions. It’s a dereliction of duty, and voters will see that come next year.” Speaker Borja and Majority Leader Dalia Arraya declined to comment on factional infighting getting in the way of governing, as did the President and his office.

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[Arvento]

ROMAN FEDERATION LAUNCHES AIR STRIKES ON NATIVE TRIBES IN THE EASTERN PROVINCES

Roman jets have carried out attacks on the areas controlled by the separatist native tribes in the east of the Dominion.

An official from the Jarnisid Tribes Association, a group seeking autonomy for the natives in the Roman Federation, said there were multiple casualties from the strikes, which targeted the tribes' hideouts throughout the eastern Volerno province.

Lieutenant Alessandro Ricci announced that the Roman Air Forces managed to destroy at least one barrack and 2 warehouses of the Tribesmen Council

Majority of the native separatist groups within the Roman Dominion is concentrated in the east and south of the country although it is believed that the coastal areas, including the capital of Remopolis, also has various sleeper cells. The Roman government designates the Jarsinid organizations as terrorist groups seeking to gain independence from the federal government.

Various human rights groups have demanded that Remopolis stops its tactics and resorts to dialogue with the rebellious native tribes. Although the Federation seems to be the most divided industrial nation, the leaders are hopeful that the new reforms will result in many positive changes in the citizens' daily lives int he near future.