On Tuesday, the state government decided on further details on aid for the social sector and social life in view of the high energy costs. “We want to ensure that Bavaria continues to run and function in the crisis,” said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) after a cabinet meeting, which this time took place in Nuremberg. From the hardship fund of 1.5 billion euros that has already been decided, 600 million euros will be made available, among other things, through hospitals and rehabilitation clinics, educational, social and care facilities, sports and traditional clubs, cultural sites including cinemas, the scientific sector and to set up a “rescue package” for the student unions or integration projects and animal shelters. Almost the same amount is kept “on hand as a reserve”. If the money is not used, it stays in the till. Because the money is only distributed for gaps that are not covered by federal aid.
The responsible departments, such as the social, science or digital ministries, should now take over the processing “on their own responsibility”, it was said, and they will be allocated partial budgets for this. For health and care alone, that is more than 250 million euros, for the cultural sector around 50 million euros. In addition, the cabinet has decided on an energy blocking protection for all citizens if private energy costs can no longer be managed despite federal aid and there is a risk of electricity or gas being switched off. In that case, the Free State would step in, said Söder. “The way the concept is set up, nobody in Bavaria should run the risk of being blocked and sitting cold at home.” A good 30 million euros are again earmarked for this.
Before the cabinet meeting, the state working group for free welfare had called for a fast Bavarian hardship fund for the social sector. The well-being, sometimes even the existence of many people in the Free State depends on it, it said. The Red Cross, Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Caritas and Diakonie in Bavaria are organized in the working group. Together, the associations provide around 75 percent of all social services in Bavaria.
The state government had already presented its supplementary fund for the economy last week. He should be ready to go in January and support Bavarian companies with a sum of at least 6000 to a maximum of two million euros, whose existence is at risk due to the high energy costs and which may fall through the grid with the measures taken by the federal government. This must be proven and applies to all forms of energy. In addition, the cabinet has decided to be lenient with all those companies that have received excessive or unjustified Corona emergency aid and therefore have to pay it back. In Bavaria, “decisions are made with more goodwill than elsewhere,” promised Prime Minister Söder. Accordingly, there should be generous opportunities for deferral for companies in the Free State due to the current situation in the energy crisis, according to Söder, in certain cases it is even conceivable to “waive” the repayment of the aid.
A further five million euros were released for emergency power generators, heaters and the like for the Ukraine, according to Söder the total output of the Free State for the attacked country is now 36 million euros. This does not include “the support we provide here on site for the people who are there”.