The Federal Council has cleared the way for several laws that will provide financial relief for many citizens in the current crisis with sharply increased prices for energy and cost of living. With the new citizens’ benefit and a greatly improved housing allowance, the state is helping people with low incomes in particular. On the other hand, 48 million citizens should benefit from an adjustment for inflation in income tax. The resolutions of the State Chamber in detail:
citizen money
The long-controversial reform, which replaces the old Hartz IV system, comes after the approval of the Federal Council on January 1st. The payments in the basic security then increase by more than 50 euros. Single people will receive 502 euros in the future. Significant parts of the reform will not come into force until July 1st. The job centers should then be able to take greater care of the unemployed. Placement in permanent work should be better than before. To this end, those affected should be given further qualifications to a greater extent or begin training or retraining. Those who receive basic security will be able to earn more in the future – for example with a mini-job. Those who do not cooperate with the job center will be sanctioned.
housing benefit
Hundreds of thousands of additional households in Germany will be able to receive housing benefit for the first time from next January. The Federal Council approved the reform – despite clear criticism of the high additional workload for the administration and the extremely short changeover time. So far, 600,000 households have received this state subsidy for their rent. With the housing benefit reform, up to 1.4 million more will be entitled to do so. The housing allowance is also to be increased by an average of 190 euros per month. This means that in future the subscribers will receive an average of around 370 euros per month.
However, the federal states made it clear that they first have to look for and train new staff and convert their IT systems, which will not be possible by the beginning of January. “It’s the same pattern as always: the federal government writes a half-baked draft law and the states should then somehow manage to implement it,” criticized Bavaria’s Minister for Federal Affairs, Florian Herrmann (CSU). It is foreseeable that there will be trouble among the citizens at first.
Income tax inflation adjustment
48 million citizens can look forward to lower taxes from next year after the Federal Council gave the go-ahead for income tax inflation compensation. This ensures that the state will not also benefit from the high prices in the coming year. The so-called cold progression, a kind of secret tax increase caused by inflation, is offset. The federal, state and local governments will thus forego tax revenues of 18.6 billion euros in 2023.
CO2 tax
Tenants can also hope for financial relief when it comes to the climate tax for heating. So far, they have had to pay the so-called CO2 tax on their own, but in future the landlords will be involved. The benchmark will be the energetic quality of the respective building. The worse this is, the higher the proportion of landlords. In the case of particularly high-emission buildings, these must bear up to 95 percent of the CO2 tax. There are exceptions if, for example, monument protection regulations prevent better insulation. The law is scheduled to come into force on January 1st. A prerequisite for relief, however, is that landlords do not simply transfer their share to the rent.
Atomlaufzeiten
The last three German nuclear power plants can continue to be operated until April 15 next year. The Federal Council refrained from appealing to the mediation committee for this law. With that, it can come into effect. The Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland kilns are to remain connected to the grid for a few months longer in order to secure the power supply this winter. In the course of the nuclear phase-out, they should actually have been switched off at the end of the year.
truck toll
The truck toll on Germany’s trunk roads will be increased at the beginning of 2023. After the Bundestag the day before, the Bundesrat also approved the increase on Friday. According to the current road cost report, the fee should actually be reduced, said State Secretary for Transport Oliver Luksic in the state chamber. However, the federal government has used the opportunity to price in the costs for noise and exhaust gases – “which ultimately leads to higher toll rates”. Since its introduction in 2005, the truck toll has resulted in revenues of 85 billion euros, said Luksic.
triage policy
In the future, people with disabilities and old people will not be disadvantaged in the event of a shortage of treatment capacity in intensive care units in the event of a pandemic. Triage means that doctors determine who will be treated first if there are not enough beds or ventilators. According to the law, a decision should be made in such a case based on the “current and short-term probability of survival” of a patient. The amendment to the Infection Protection Act, which has now also been approved by the Bundesrat, goes back to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court last year.
European media regulation
The Federal Council is taking action against the EU Commission’s plans for European media regulation with a subsidiarity complaint. The Chamber of States backed the intention to protect media diversity and independence in Europe. From a country perspective, however, the EU does not have a sufficient legal basis and competence for this. “The Bundesrat shares the goal of guaranteeing and preserving diverse and independent media in Europe,” said Malu Dreyer (SPD), Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate and Chair of the Broadcasting Commission. “But a legitimate goal does not mean that the European Union is authorized to regulate this by means of a regulation.”
Federal Council agenda
