Brazilian Parliament’s Decision on Pension Reform Delayed

Brazil’s lawmakers are bogged down over President Jair Bolsonaro’s pension reform.

A Monday meeting in the Chamber of Deputies was suspended for a day following a stalemate between members on Bolsonaro’s pension reform proposal. Opponents of the plan created a roadblock for more than an hour. Then Felipe Francischini, who heads the Committee of Constitution and Justice and Citizenship, which is shepherding the measure, called off the discussion.

Among other things, Bolsonaro’s plans would change the minimum retirement ages to 65 for men and 62 for women, and require that they have contributed to Brazil’s social security system for 20 years. The current law requires just 15 years of contributions.

Committee members against the proposal argued that some provisions have nothing to do with social security, such as eliminating salary bonuses for workers with multiple jobs and fining retirees who keep working while receiving their pension checks.

Last week, Rogério Marinho, the special secretary for Social Security and Labor of the Ministry of Economy, said the government would start to negotiate pension reform on Monday and vote on Tuesday. There is no word on how long this could push back voting.

Brazil’s total pension deficit is 266 billion reis, or $67.6 billion.

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