Status: 11/14/2022 1:27 p.m
The state chamber has stopped the citizens’ income for the time being. The social reform planned by the traffic light coalition is now going to the mediation committee. The Union had previously announced that it would vote against the law or abstain.
The planned citizens’ allowance has failed, at least for the time being. The conversion of the Hartz IV basic security system decided by the Bundestag did not find a majority in the special session of the state chamber.
There, the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP is dependent on additional votes from the Union-led countries for adoption. However, the CDU and CSU are calling for changes to the draft law.
Heil relies on a fast mediation process
The federal government had already decided to appeal to the mediation committee, said Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil after the meeting. The committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat could already meet in the coming week. “If everyone involved has good will,” a compromise can be found and decided at the next Federal Council meeting on November 25.
During the entire process, his “hand was stretched out to find a solution,” emphasized the SPD politician. “In these times, when many people are unsettled, we shouldn’t be shaped by partisan political action, it’s about sensible solutions for our country.” The key is “that the unemployed get back to work”.
Time is running out
The Mediation Committee, which consists of 16 representatives each from the Bundestag and Bundesrat, still has to be constituted. Only if the Federal Council can pass a compromise at its regular meeting on Friday next week would the increase in the standard rates for basic security be paid out in good time at the beginning of the year.
The citizen benefit is intended to replace the unemployment benefit II (Hartz IV) introduced in 2005. The reform is intended to make it easier for the unemployed to be placed in the labor market, including through more qualification and further training. The opportunities for additional earnings with lower deductions from citizen income are also being expanded. The monthly payments will be significantly increased: In the future, a single person will receive 502 euros and thus 53 euros per month for living expenses.
Controversial wealth
The Union wants to support the increase in payments. Above all, she rejects the planned increase in the so-called protective assets. The needy do not have to touch these financial reserves if they want to receive citizen benefits. A single person, for example, can have up to 60,000 euros on the high edge for a waiting period of two years. The amount increases with the number of household members.