Lower house rejects Milei's veto of disability emergency law

President Javier Milei suffered a setback on Wednesday as lower house deputies rejected his veto of a bill declaring an emergency in the care of the disabled in Argentina. 

As anti-Milei protesters demonstrated outside Congress in support of the bill, the Chamber of Deputies voted to reject the President’s veto of the Disability Emergency Law by 172 votes to 73 with two abstentions, achieving the required two-thirds majority.

The bill, which increases funding for people with disabilities, was previously approved by Congress in July.

"We are asking for people with disabilities to have a dignified life, because it is their right," said Valentina Bassi, who attended the demonstration outside Congress in support of her disabled son.

The motion to reject Milei’s veto was supported by opposition deputies from the Peronist Unión por la Patria caucus, Encuentro Federal, Democracia para Siempre, Coalición Cívica, Innovación Federal, the majority of Unión Cívica Radical lawmakers and even two libertarians, Marcela Pagano and Carlos D'Alessandro.

The Senate will now have to decide whether to ratify the rejection of the veto and allow the Disability Emergency Law to be enacted.

If confirmed, it would be the first time that Congress has successfully rejected a law imposed by Milei’s La Libertad Avanza administration.

The law declaring an emergency in the care of people with disabilities moves to regularise overdue back payments of health benefits, update fees for service providers and guarantee them until December 2027.

It also proposes a reform of the non-contributory pension system, a strengthening the role of the ANDIS national disability agency and reinstates a mandatory employment quota for people with disabilities.

"The rights of people with disabilities are enshrined in the Constitution," argued left-winger lawmaker Alejandro Vilca during congressional debate. "When Milei attacks the most vulnerable, people with disabilities and retirees, we say he's a coward."

Lawmaker Danya Tavela (Democracia para Siempre) stated that “there is only one party responsible for the situation we are in – and that is the national government.”

“The President of the Nation decided to make the easy adjustment, which affects those who are most vulnerable,” she said.

Milei has previously described the bill as “irresponsible” and says it will damage his bid to balance Argentina’s books.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the total fiscal cost of these initiatives could range from 2.4 trillion pesos (0.28 percent of GDP) to 4.3 trillion pesos (0.51 percent of GDP).

Milei took office in December 2023, having wielded a live chainsaw during his successful election campaign to symbolise his vow to slash state spending. He has suspended public works projects, laid off tens of thousands of civil servants, gutted state agencies and reduced aid.

Argentina’s crisis-hit economy registered its first budget surplus in 14 years in 2024, and annual inflation fell to 39.4 percent in June – down from 211 percent at the end of 2023 and 118 percent last year.

But the measures were blamed for tipping millions more people into poverty in the first half of 2024, and brought tens of thousands onto the streets in protest.

– TIMES/NA/AFP