Status: 01.11.2022 03:54
In two months the citizen money should come. But the traffic light in the Bundesrat is still dependent on the votes of the Union, which threatens to get in the way. The German Association of Cities calls for a speedy agreement – and improvements.
The German Association of Cities has called for improvements to the planned citizens’ allowance and called on the traffic lights and the Union to come to an agreement. “The citizens’ income is a good thing and deserves broad parliamentary support. We are therefore appealing to the traffic light coalition and the largest opposition faction to come to an understanding,” said Chief Executive Helmut Dedy of the editorial network Germany.
“However, the coalition must make improvements in three areas of the draft law: in the crediting of assets, the equipment of the job centers and the administrative burden.” Dedy explained: “It sends the wrong signal that wealth doesn’t matter for two years if someone applies for citizenship benefits. This waiting period must be significantly reduced and should be a maximum of one year.”
Reduce bureaucracy, strengthen job centers
In addition, the reform has not yet been used to strengthen the job centers financially and in terms of personnel from 2023. “The job centers need sufficient staff and financial resources to make a success of the citizen’s income.” In addition, bureaucracy must be reduced. “The administrative burden for new regulations should be as low as possible.” But he fears more bureaucracy.
In the debate on citizen income, the CDU recently threatened to block the reform in the Bundestag. CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja told the “Tagesspiegel” that the plans would not be approved in their current form. He assumes “that we will have to talk about it in the mediation committee,” said Czaja.
Söder: “Basic wrong direction”
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder also spoke on Monday. The traffic light coalition’s previous plans went in the “fundamentally wrong direction” and would have “absolutely socially unjust effects,” according to the CSU chairman.
Kühnert: “Transparent, populist manoeuvre”
Despite the ongoing dispute, Chancellor Olaf Scholz was confident that citizen income could be introduced on January 1 of next year. The SPD leader Saskia Esken signaled willingness to talk towards the Union. “If the union-led federal states want to clarify detailed questions about citizen income, we are ready to do so,” she told the Funke media group.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert described the Union’s criticism as “a transparent and populist manoeuvre”. He accused the Union of trying to split. “The SPD will not allow working people on low incomes to be played off against the unemployed. Trying to pit these groups against each other is shameless.”