Democratic Party: "Not Considering Preliminary Budget, Will Process Only Reduced Budget... Nursing Act May Go Straight to Plenary Session"

Kim Seong-hwan, Democratic Party Policy Committee Chairman Meeting
Efforts to Increase Budget as Demands by Democratic Party but No Consideration for Quasi-Budget
Budget Bill to Be Processed Before Regular National Assembly Session
If Judiciary Committee Continues to Delay Nursing Act, Direct Submission to Plenary Session via Standing Committee Approval Considered

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea has expressed its intention not to lead the budget bill into a ‘quasi-budget’ formation situation this year. They aim to finalize the budget bill by any means before the regular National Assembly session ends on the 9th of next month.

On the 22nd, Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party’s Policy Committee, said at a briefing, "This week, the subcommittee on budget adjustment will only handle cuts, and soon we will review the increase proposals. Since the legal deadline is the 2nd of next month, there is not much time left," adding, "The Democratic Party’s position is to adhere to the legal deadline as much as possible, and if negotiations do not go well, we intend to process the budget bill no later than the closing day of the regular National Assembly session on the 9th of next month."

Chairman Kim stated, "We are trying to handle various bills related to ultra-rich tax cuts as budget-related subsidiary bills in the subcommittee. On the other hand, although the budget for the presidential office relocation and the budget related to illegal enforcement decree governance were allocated regardless of the excessive amount, we will definitely block those related budgets," and added, "Also, for essential budgets that were cut, such as the rental housing budget currently being negotiated at the party leader’s office today, the 700 billion won regional currency budget, and the senior job and youth tomorrow savings deposit budget, we will restore the cut portions of the allocated budget."

He said, "As you know well, cuts can be considered the authority of the National Assembly, but we do not know how much the government will agree to the Democratic Party’s requested increases," and added, "We will make every effort. Even if the government does not agree, we are not considering a quasi-budget in advance and aim to increase the livelihood budget as much as possible."

Regarding bill processing, Chairman Kim warned of the possibility of bills pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Health and Welfare Committee being sent directly to the plenary session. He said, "There are bills agreed upon in the standing committee that have not been processed," citing, "Representative examples include the Nursing Act, the Medical Service Act which imposes certain sanctions on doctors’ licenses, and the National Health Insurance Act which prevents fraudulent claims related to drug prices. These are being held up by lobbying from some groups," and warned, "If they continue to be held up for various reasons, it is highly likely to become the first case where, according to the amendment of the National Assembly Act, the bill is directly referred to the plenary session by a resolution of more than three-fifths of the standing committee."

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