General budget impasse drags on as cross-caucus talks break down

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) The impasse over the general budget for Fiscal Year 2025 continued Monday in the Legislature, as lawmakers sparred during cross-caucus negotiations over how to fund compensation to members of Indigenous communities affected by a logging ban.

Legislative review of the NT$3.13 trillion (US$97.89 billion) general budget proposal presented by the Cabinet has been in limbo for weeks, due mainly to the opposition caucuses' rejection of the Cabinet's compensation plan for the logging ban, on grounds that there were deficiencies in the proposal.

In its compensatory plan, the Cabinet has budgeted NT$40,000 per hectare for landowners or users affected by the ban, a figure that is well below the NT$60,000 required under the amendments to the Logging Ban Compensation for Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples Act that were passed in June.

During Monday's cross-caucus talks, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said that the general budget review should not hinge on the logging ban compensation plan.

If the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) caucuses wanted to increase the expenditure for the logging ban compensation, they should have first indicated a source of funding, said Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘), secretary-general of the (DPP) caucus.

The opposition caucuses, however, said the DPP lawmakers had reneged on their own plan, as they were the ones who had initially put forward the amendment bill to raise the compensation from NT$30,000 to NT$60,000 per hectare.

After the caucuses returned from a break in the talks, TPP caucus convener Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that he was flummoxed by a central government proposal to make up the NT$20,000 per hectare shortfall by drawing on other funds then figuring out ways to pay it back from the 2026 general budget.

It is unbelievable that Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿), who floated that proposal during the break, would expect the three legislative caucuses to back it, Huang said.

After the break, Chen said in response to a question by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) that there were several ways to repay the funds, for example by tapping into the Cabinet's Second Reserve Fund.

As a last resort, general budget funds could be relocated, and any resulting shortfalls could be made up in the 2026 budget, Chen said.

The opposition caucuses, however, rejected Chen's suggestions, saying they were too "vague."

Han then asked Chen to explain her proposals in greater detail to the caucuses so that committee review of the government spending plan could commence soon.

The speaker has ruled that the next round of cross-caucus talks should be held on Oct. 24.

During the cross-caucus talks on Monday, all sides agreed that the motions relating to the general budget proposal should be submitted to the legislative Finance Committee by 5 p.m. on Nov. 6.