SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – The changes in the distribution of resources provided for in the Aldir Blanc Law have caused concern among state and municipal managers, who receive 3 billion reais annually from the Union. Last Friday, the Lula government published a provisional measure that modifies the legislation, created during the pandemic to help the cultural sector.
The law determines that the government transfers R$ 15 billion to states and municipalities in five annual installments of R$ 3 billion, until 2027. With the provisional measure, the payment remains mandatory, but the installments will no longer necessarily have to be of R$ 3 billion per year. , since, according to the government, only R$ 208 million has been spent so far.
Almost half of Brazilian municipalities did not touch resources—São Paulo is the state that has the most money immobilized in absolute values—which administrators attribute to structural and bureaucratic problems.
Now, new transfers will only be made when the states have used the amounts previously deposited. As a result, the government decided to freeze R$ 1.5 billion of the transfer that would be made until the end of this year.
State and municipal culture secretaries say they were taken by surprise. This Thursday (28), local managers published an open letter in which they said they were concerned about the changes.
“The general concern of the municipalities is that we have the guarantee of R$ 15 billion in a viable period,” says Eliane Parreiras, Secretary of Culture of Belo Horizonte.
The manager says that the regulation is important to clear up doubts about the text of the provisional measure. “We want to understand how this resource will be preserved and transmitted to the federal entities, because that is not yet clear,” says she, who is president of the National Forum of Secretaries and Directors of Culture of Associated Capitals and Municipalities.
The Ministry of Culture denies, however, that this is a cut and states that the remaining resources will be transferred at the beginning of the year.
The changes to the Aldir Blanc Law come at a time when the Ministry of Finance is discussing a cost containment package to balance public accounts. “The states and municipalities that are executing the resources on time receive the full amount,” says Márcio Tavares, executive secretary of the department. “This is a pressure mechanism for good management of public investment.”
Regarding the low use of money by the municipalities, Parreiras, from Belo Horizonte, says that this happens due to structural difficulties. Small cities sometimes do not have departments dedicated to culture, which makes the distribution of resources difficult.
“But there are cities that, regardless of their size, are not committed. However, for the most part, there is an enormous commitment to execute the resources.” The Secretary of Culture of Espírito Santo, Fabricio Noronha, affirms that the states should not have difficulties with the new regulations, since they have a robust administrative structure.
“But the municipalities worry me a lot,” he says, who chairs the National Forum of Secretaries of State and Directors of Culture. “We can penalize whoever has more difficulties due to lack of resources next year.”
Author of the Aldir Blanc law, federal deputy Jandira Feghali (PC do B-RJ), considers it important that municipal administrations prioritize policies aimed at culture.
“There needs to be follow-up by the MinC on this, but it is very important that local administrations strengthen the capacity to execute this resource,” says the parliamentarian. “[Os produtores] They are desperate for resources. “Sometimes what we don’t get is a response from local management.”
The art coordinator of the Coastal, Interior and Greater São Paulo Arts Forum, Caio Martínez, says that the lethargy in the transfer of resources exposes the lack of professionalization of cultural management in the country. “It makes no sense to transfer the value to the municipalities and states if they do not have a plan, a fund and a cultural council,” he says. “If there is no structure that mediates the transfer of this money, in the end it becomes very complicated for the person.”
