All-Nighters Loom for Parliament in Budget Vote
The Social Democrats have said they are prepared to force all-night sessions in Wednesday's 2014 budget vote if their motions are dismissed, a repeat of filibustering tactics used by the Center Party a year ago.
“We have submitted a very large number of alterations [to the budget] and we plan to vote on each one in Parliament. And yes, we could begin to take 10-minute breaks between each vote,” Rannar Vassiljev, Social Democrat MP and deputy chairman of the Finance Committee, told ETV on Monday.
The opposition party made over 400 amendment proposals to the committee, which reviews all proposals before Parliament votes on them. The committee supported one motion fully, and one partially, rejecting all others.
The chairman of the committee, Sven Sester of IRL, said that many ideas where not feasible, like increasing income tax to 26 percent. The extra income from that increase would be available until 2015, not in time for next year's budget, Sester said.
The Social Democrats said their biggest concern is child support, which has not been raised in a decade
The other opposition party, the Center Party, said it will not drag out the proceedings this year, but will still propose increasing funding for local roads, school meals and school support staff.