Ticino parliament narrowly approves 2025 budget
Published: Thursday, Dec 12th 2024, 15:10
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After a three-day debate, the Ticino cantonal parliament approved the 2025 budget with 33 votes in favor, 29 against and 12 abstentions. Planned cost-cutting measures in special education and premium reductions were controversial.
The deficit budgeted for 2025 amounts to CHF 96 million. The government had originally budgeted CHF 64 million.
The reasons for the increase in the deficit include the parking tax rejected by Parliament, the rejection of the compensation for cold progression and the increase in health insurance premiums.
With the 2025 budget, the Ticino government also presented new austerity measures, including a reduction in premium reductions. Assuming a 6% increase in premiums, around 2,700 people in Ticino would no longer receive premium reductions in the coming year.
SP announces referendum
In 2025, however, health insurance premiums in Ticino will rise by as much as 10.5 percent. This makes the canton the front-runner in Switzerland. Despite this fact, the Ticino cantonal parliament approved the government's savings proposal.
The SP immediately announced a referendum. A reduction in premium reductions in a canton with the lowest median wage in Switzerland and the highest health insurance premiums is "unacceptable", the SP-CO leadership told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The savings measure proposed by the Audit and Finance Committee for special needs education also caused discussion. The head of the Ticino Department of Education, Culture and Sport, Marina Carobbio, warned that if investments were not made at a young age, the costs would be shifted to the "adults of tomorrow".
Around 3,000 children in Ticino currently receive special educational support. Parliament responded to the appeal and rejected the proposal to save two million francs. Prior to this, 28 organizations had submitted a petition against the cuts.
The canton of Ticino, which has been in the red for years, must make savings. The reason for this is a spending brake approved by the Ticino electorate in 2022. This stipulates that the cantonal profit and loss account must be balanced by the end of 2025.
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