Emergency Family Income (IFE) eventually became law after being dispatched by the Senate. His path to enactment was not easy, as it included a presidential veto and the constant criticism of the opposition, who called for raising the amount of profit that will be paid at the end of the month to 4.5 million Chileans and Chileans, as the government has pointed out.
Precisely in this Wednesday’s vote, although it was approved by 42 votes, 23 of these were abstentions from opposition senators. They had already done so in the first instance, forcing them to repeat suffrage. One of those who abstained was DR. Senator Francisco Huenchumilla, who after the vote, sent a message to the Executive: “Giving more liquidity to families is pressing (…) this household income is insufficient, and the country has savings, borrowing capacity and other avenues to appeal.”
He then added that the government “as always puts the opposition between the sword and the wall. If this veto was not approved, thousands of families did not receive this contribution. What they don’t announce is the pettyness of the contribution.”
Because of this, he asked The Coin to “abandon his unconscious behavior, to hand over aid to droppers, in the context of this pandemic. Of course, the idea that resources need to be taken care of if new needs arise. But the reality is that families can’t wait for the government’s trickle, because no one can eat on time.”
“The government clearly takes advantage of the big headlines, and Emergency Family Income is one of them,” the senator said. “What people should know is that this Household Income discriminates against households on the basis of the origin of their income, whether they are formal or informal. Even if they are equally vulnerable households by amount of income, if the income is formal, they will receive less aid. Nor is it said that this income offers amounts that do not exceed the extreme poverty line,” he emphasized.
Huenchumilla accused the government of missing “to its word,” because of the $2 billion advertised to deliver liquidity to families, “this emergency family income project only takes up $802 million.”
Meanwhile, Senator Carlos Montes (PS), who also abstained, said they value the IFE, “however, the project has small letter. He’s in trouble. The project is an amount that does not reach for a family in a month, it is decreasing, it is cumbersome and slow, and worst of all, the most complicated thing, is that it leaves many families out, families that are just like the others.”
“The families of Santiago are living in a very difficult situation. The Government, with humility, must recognize the problems in overcoming them. Today, health policy requires change. The Fogape is in trouble, it’s not working well. Unemployment insurance is being associated with a lot of abuse of workers (…). Anyway, we believe that the time has come for the government to open up to improve the policies that need to be done,” he concluded.
