“Save time, then you have to go in need” – the CSU has taken this saying to heart for a long time and waived new debts year after year. Then came Corona.
Bavaria is planning a 70 billion budget
Take 60 billion euros from tax revenue and federal grants and add around 10 billion special corona loans – and it’s done: the new budget, a cake of 70 billion euros. If you look deeper into the 5,000-page draft, it becomes clear: Despite Corona, every single piece remains at least as big as the cake in the previous year. Specifically: Provincial care allowance 390 million, daycare allowance 105 million, family allowance almost 770 million, Kita contribution-free around 500 million.
There is no trace of a round of savings, criticizes the budgetary spokeswoman for the Landtag Greens, Claudia Köhler: “We have now had fat years with huge tax revenues. They were also happy to spend instead of making provisions here and bringing the universities into shape to whip up the schools, the offices … So, and now our children and grandchildren have to foot the bill. “
The Greens criticize the budget as a blank check for the Söder government.
Greens: Too little money for energy transition and climate adaptation
The Greens are missing funds for the energy transition and climate adaptation, for example for renaturation or facade greening against the hot summer in the cities. However, the new budget includes the expenditure from the species protection referendum and its accompanying law.
Other items are growing significantly: 15 percent more budget for the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economic Affairs – because of the costs of the Corona crisis. Parts of the budget also flow into new staff: 1,000 additional teaching positions, 500 in the police force, and 40 new positions are also being created in the State Chancellery in Munich – the state government draws on the full potential. And from the reserves: These are melting from a total of 8 to 6 billion euros.
Digital Ministry continues on a small budget
But what particularly bothers the opposition in the state parliament: the mini-budget of the digital ministry. Around 34 million euros go to digital administration, 36 million euros to computer games funding – in the end, digital minister Judith Gerlach only has 9 million euros available for operational purposes. The FDP member of the state parliament, Helmut Kaltenhauser, does not think the construct makes much sense: “We finally need a real digitization ministry. So the ministry really only has a coordination function, if it has one at all. All the essential decisions are made in the individual ministries.”
SPD: More public transport and energy-efficient renovation
The SPD doesn’t think the budget is too bad. It is a mixture of fighting the pandemic and longer-term investments. However, too little money is earmarked for public transport, since it also helps protect the climate. For this, even more money could be taken from the Free State’s reserves. The budget spokesman Harald Güller would like more investments “in the area of local public transport and on the subject of energy-efficient renovation, both in private homes and in the municipalities. There is too little money in the draft.”
AfD: Too much money for immigration and integration
The chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, Kathrin Ebner-Steiner, uses the budget debate to settle the corona policy of the state government. The Bavarian economy will be driven against the wall by the Corona measures.
“If you smash the economy of your own country, your tax revenues break away, the consequences are always new debts, which burden our economy and taxpayers even more. With the Corona justification you realize everything for which there was previously no money.” Kathrin Ebner-Steiner, chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group
The AfD criticizes the expenditure of almost two billion euros for the “Immigration and Integration Fund” and the subsidies for renewable energies.
CSU and Free Voters satisfied
The government coalition sees a good balance between investments and cushioning the corona consequences in the draft. The Bavarian Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) also justifies his financial plan for the coming year. After all, this is under the sign of the current pandemic
“When it comes to the budget, we now have to concentrate on what is necessary to overcome the crisis, necessary in the true sense of the word, ladies and gentlemen. Not desirable, but turn around the need and that’s how we set up the budget.” Albert Füracker (CSU), Bavarian Minister of Finance
It is a reasonable budget so Füracker. Bavaria is not saving, but is investing against the crisis: digitization, infrastructure, high-tech and education. “We see that we can keep the crisis away from people,” said Füracker. “We spend a lot of money on this. We strengthen the hospitals and medical care. And if you want to support the economy and save jobs on the one hand, it makes little sense on the other hand to take money away from people. That’s why we still have it.” no concrete savings measures, but the departments bring 500 million euros in savings contributions. “
Soft December lockdown not yet included
The budget should not be finally approved until March next. The draft budget may then already be outdated: The lockdown extension in December and the resulting tax losses are not even included.
Debt reduction – postponed for now
And the reduction of the 27 billion old debts in Bavaria? Postponed for now. First of all, the 20 billion euros in corona loans taken out this year must be paid off – by at least 2045.
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