Buenos Aires, Dec 18 (NA) – In a marathon session in the Chamber of Deputies, the ruling coalition managed to pass the 2026 Budget Bill in general, but suffered a setback by failing to sustain the controversial Article 75, which sought to repeal the emergency laws on Disability and university funding.
The initiative was approved in general with 132 votes in favor, 97 against, and 17 abstentions, and was sent to the Senate without Chapter XI, which included Article 75, added at the last minute by the ruling coalition through a procedural loophole.
The defeat of Chapter 11, which garnered only 117 positive votes against 123 negative and two abstentions, was ecstatically celebrated by the entire opposition.
In the general vote, "La Libertad Avanza" managed to rally its allies from PRO, UCR, Innovación Federal, and other minority forces linked to various provinces.
Meanwhile, Unión por la Patria and the Frente de Izquierda voted against, while Provincias Unidas abstained.
The bill incorporated, at PRO's request, compliance with the procedural acts ordered by the Supreme Court on the claim for the City of Buenos Aires' tax revenue share, and also the transfer of resources to the supreme court to the Council of the Magistracy for 21.347 billion pesos.
However, since this modification was included in Chapter 11, which was voted down in particular, it was rendered void.
Also dropped from the bill was the restriction on the cold zone regime and the elimination of automatic adjustments for the Universal Child Allowance, Pregnancy Allowance, and Family Allowances, as the government had wanted.
The controversy arose because the ruling coalition incorporated all these measures into Chapter 11 to condition various political forces into supporting the entire package of measures, without allowing them to vote for or against them individually.
"This is extortion," accused the Civic Coalition deputy Maximiliano Ferraro, warning that those who vote in favor of Article 75 would be "violating the financial administration law."
The head of the Unión por la Patria bloc, Germán Martínez, explained the mechanism used by the ruling coalition to shield Article 75, and described it as a "perversion."
"This is extortional," he denounced.
Just before the controversy erupted, in the final speech of the debate, the head of the La Libertad Avanza bloc, Gabriel Bornoroni, defended the initiative and highlighted as its main virtue the "fiscal balance," which for President Javier Milei represents "the cornerstone" of his economic project.
"Argentina has not had a fiscal surplus in 120 years. A great country, with a future and prosperity," he concluded.
