Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Free child-care programs key to budget bill
By Jun Ji-hye
How to cover the cost of a free child-care program has become a key element in negotiations between rival parties on a proposed bill detailing next year’s budget. They reached a broad consensus on the method, Tuesday, but remain poles apart about how much funding the central government will provide.
With just a few days left before the deadline for the bill to be passed, the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) are concentrating on last-minute negotiations. By law, assembly members must pass the budget bill by Dec. 2.
During their meeting, Reps. Kim Jae-won and Ahn Gyu-baek, respective vice floor leaders of the rival parties, agreed that the central government will “indirectly” share the responsibilities of local governments to bear the costs.
This can be done by increasing the budgets for metropolitan and provincial education offices, and allowing them to allocate funding for the free child-care program in cooperation with local governments, they said.
“Rival parties do not have differences over such methods,” Ahn told reporters.
However, they failed to agree on how much more budget should be given to the education offices. The ruling party wants a 200 billion won increase, while the NPAD wants an increase of about 500 billion won.
The child-care program, dubbed “Nuri Curriculum,” was a campaign pledge by President Park Geun-hye designed to offer government subsidies to parents with children aged three to five.
The government has been maintaining that local governments should bear the cost. The NPAD has said the central government should share the cost with local offices.
The battle between the parties is expected to reach a climax this week because a revised National Assembly Law in 2012 obligates lawmakers to complete their budget review by Nov. 30 and send it to a plenary session.
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