Government extends extraordinary sessions to guarantee labor reform approval

The government extended the extraordinary sessions period of Congress until February 28 via a decree published Wednesday in the Official Gazette, adding an additional 24 hours to the initially scheduled end for the previous day. The decision was made due to legislative norms. According to lower house rules, any bills set to be debated during extraordinary sessions require a previous commission green light at least 10 days before the period ends otherwise, the initiative would be pushed back to when the ordinary period starts. Wednesday is the last day for the commissions to approve a final version of the labor reform so it can be debated before February ends. The labor reform was passed by the Argentine Senate last week and will now move to lower house commissions. They are estimated to approve a final version of the bill on Wednesday, a required step for it to reach the chambers floor and be formally debated. If this happens, the bill is likely to be addressed by deputies on Thursday. However, given that the bill will likely suffer changes, the legislation will have to return to the upper chamber for final approval in order for it to become law. If the extraordinary session period had not been extended, the government would not have had enough time to send this amended version back to the senate. Changes to the labor reform bill Despite passing in the senate, the bill ran into problems in the lower house. Following demands from opposition deputies, ruling party La Libertad Avanza (LLA) has agreed to remove an article that cut the salary an employee received during sick leave if they were not able to perform their jobs. The removal means that current legislation stands and the bill approved by the senate will be modified. If the lower house passes the legislation, it would have to return to the senate for it to approve that change in a final vote. This is estimated to happen on Friday of next week, one day before the extraordinary sessions period ends. The government also intends for senators to give final approval to other bills passed last week in the lower house: a provision aimed at lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14 years old and the ratification of the Mercosur-European Union deal. In the decree extending the extraordinary sessions published on Wednesday, the government added a bill intended to reform a public university funding law passed by Congress last year. That legislation was initially vetoed by the president and later reinstated by lawmakers in October. Milei has rejected putting the university funding bill into effect on the grounds that it clashed with his zero fiscal deficit goal. The judiciary has ordered the administration to move forward with implementing it, but the government has appealed. Now, it sent to Congress a proposal to guarantee funding for the provision without endangering the countrys coffers.