Tarcísio prioritizes centrists in amendments and bothers Bolsonaro supporters in SP

The state deputies who represent Jair Bolsonaro 's (PL) front line in São Paulo are going through a period of friction with Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans).

The group complains about the delay in paying parliamentary amendments, the governor's unwillingness to sanction bills of interest to them and the freeze on nominations for public office.

Over the last few weeks, deputies have shown their dissatisfaction, threatening to abstain from important votes for the government and even through speeches directly criticizing the governor's team in the Legislative Assembly.

On two occasions last month, the government was unable to get important projects for Tarcísio voted on on the date desired by Palácio dos Bandeirantes — one due to lack of quorum and another because the deputies preferred to discuss the proposal until the time limit for debates in the plenary.

In the case of SuperAção, a social program launched in May by Tarcísio with a focus on combating poverty, the vote scheduled for June 18 only took place on the 24th. The vote on the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law), scheduled for last Thursday (26), only took place on Tuesday (1st).

The dissatisfaction is greater because, in the case of the amendments, the transfers have benefited state deputies from the centrão or the "PL raiz", the non-Bolsonaro wing of the party. The understanding is that the government gives priority to these parliamentarians, although the administration denies it.

In the first half of this year, the total of voluntary amendments distributed to allies —which Tarcísio is not obliged to execute— was R$349 million, a value higher than the R$299 million paid in the same period last year.

Bolsonaro supporters, however, do not feel included. In total, 68 of the 94 members of the Legislature have already received voluntary amendments this year. None of them are from the PSOL , the opposition party.

However, in the ranking of the ten most favored, there is only one from the group linked to the former president, Fabiana Bolsonaro (PL). She made a single indication: a transfer of R$10 million to the City Hall of Bragança Paulista, paid in early June.

On average, the 58 non-Bolsonaro deputies who have already had voluntary amendments transferred received R$5.3 million each. Among the ten Bolsonarists, the average is R$4 million. Two of them, Gil Diniz (PL) and Paulo Mansur (PL), have not yet had their amendments paid. Diniz is Eduardo Bolsonaro 's (PL-SP) main ally in the state.

The government promises to release R$751 million in voluntary amendments. With an eye on the electoral calendar, the deputies want to prevent part of the resources from being left for next year — R$91 million promised for 2024 were only paid off in 2025.

The SuperAção vote was scheduled for the same day as an event in Presidente Prudente, 568 km from the capital, with the presence of Bolsonaro.

The deputies preferred to follow the former president and were absent from the vote. As a result, there was no quorum , that is, the minimum presence required for the session to begin — 24 of the 94 deputies are required in the plenary to open the proceedings.

A member of the base interviewed by Folha said that the group could have returned in time to vote on the text at the end of the afternoon or even worked with the Board of Directors to postpone the session, but preferred to send a message stating that it was empty.

In the case of the LDO, the group allowed the opposition to use up the session time with discussions, pushing the vote to Tuesday (1st).

Bolsonaro supporters have also been criticizing Tarcísio's administration from the floor of the plenary. In the session in which the LDO was approved, congressman Lucas Bove (PL) criticized the Secretary of Finance, Samuel Kinoshita, for an alleged delay in serving him.

"I have been trying for six months to schedule a meeting with the Finance Secretary, Samuel Kinoshita, who simply does not receive us, does not return our calls, and does not even respond to requests for information," complained Bove in the plenary.

Gil Diniz criticized public safety — which is the responsibility of the state government — when he reported the theft of the tires of his official car in a cemetery. He also mentioned a robbery suffered by Delegate Olim (PP) and threats of rape and death to female deputies: "Our population cries out for public safety and I am sure that this parliament needs to respond."

The Tarcísio government was questioned about the complaints from the Bolsonaro base, but the Government Secretariat, a department headed by the president of the PSD , Gilberto Kassab , sent a note with technical explanations about the release of the resources.

"The voluntary nominations for 2025, for bureaucratic reasons or project processing, have so far been paid for those related to health that had been presented to the government up until April," says the text.

"The [demands] presented after this date and with objects that require agreements continue to be processed and will be paid according to the development of each initiative. There are still demands that were not presented by the parliamentarians", concludes the note.

The leader of the government in Alesp, Gilmaci Santos (Republicans), denies any direction aimed at harming Bolsonaro supporters. "There are Bolsonaro supporters who have already had 100% of the amendments paid [in reference to Fabiana Bolsonaro], and there are those who have already had 60%. What depends on where the deputy made the nomination," he said.

"In the case of health, if the resource is for a city hall, the money is funded and arrives faster. If it is for Santa Casa, education, security, an agreement needs to be made. It takes longer," he added.