In a roll call vote, 385 MPs voted in favor and 261 against. There were 33 abstentions. Citizens’ income will gradually replace the current Hartz IV system around the turn of the year. However, this still needs approval in the Bundesrat, which is expected to make a decision on Monday. The Christian Democrats have threatened to block the income of citizens there because they believe it reduces their motivation to work.
After the debate in the Bundestag, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) campaigned for approval in the state chamber. “If that doesn’t work, there’s another chance, which is the ability to get results in a quick mediation process.”
But you must be ready by the end of November, so that the citizen income can take effect on January 1. The conciliation process means a search for a compromise in the joint conciliation commission of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
In the plenum of the Bundestag, representatives of the “traffic light coalition” and the opposition fought oral battles before the final vote. The deputy leader of the Union faction, Hermann Gröhe (CDU), accused the traffic light coalition of refusing any debate about the “flaws” of the citizen income law and of ignoring criticism of the reform of other places, such as the city council. and the district council.
Heil defended the plans: it was the “biggest reform of the welfare state in 20 years”. It should enable people to find work again after a long period of unemployment. There’s something wrong with the system if people keep being put into unskilled jobs instead of finding steady jobs, he explains.
MPs from the Greens and FDP sharply rejected the criticism that had been leveled for weeks, especially from the CDU and CSU. The parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, Johannes Vogel, called it “schizophrenic and unfair” for the Union to claim that people with basic incomes would have more money than people on low incomes in the future. Britta Hasselmann, leader of the Greens, accused CDU leader Friedrich Merz of “disadvantaging people affected by unemployment” and of fueling “social envy”.
The traffic light plans for the citizen income provide for an increase of the current standard rate from 449 euros for singles to 502 euros. In addition, there are the costs for rent and heating. In the future, the unemployed should also be less pressured by the threat of withdrawal of benefits (sanctions) and instead be given more support with upskilling measures. In addition, the requirements for the permitted capital and the size of the apartment for benefit recipients are being relaxed.
In the Federal Council, the “traffic light” would need 35 out of 69 votes for its project. The countries led or co-governed by the CDU or CSU together have 39 votes. Even in countries where it has only the smaller government partner, the CDU can enforce an abstention in the state chamber. In the Bundesrat, abstentions have the same effect as no votes, because they are missing as yes votes.
(SDA)