States demand cooperation from the federal government on an equal footing

After the conference of the state finance officers, the host, state governor Mag. Thomas Stelzer, thanked his colleagues for the good cooperation and called on the federal government to do the same. The times are currently doubly challenging: on the one hand, Austria is in an unprecedented recession and on the other hand, government negotiations are currently underway and it is therefore not known who the future contact person will be. “But no matter who and from which party the new finance minister comes, cooperation between the federal and state governments must be improved – that is the common line of the nine federal states,” said LH Stelzer, who is currently chairing the conference, summing up the results of today’s conference together in the Linz country house.

In concrete terms, this means: Firstly, the federal government needs a transparent and clear design of the figures, says LH Stelzer, referring to the surprising new revenue forecast from the federal government the previous week, when the state budgets had already been finalized. “We need a fair approach here.” Secondly, there are very clear rules that, if the federal government intervenes in the tax system, it will be negotiated with the states. This has not happened in this form in recent years. “But we assume that with a new government things will go back to what the constitution provides. “So that we negotiate with us before measures are taken,” said Stelzer.

Thirdly, there is also agreement among the states that the federal government must take investment measures to stimulate the economic engine. And fourthly, it was also agreed that both the planning and the implementation of the renaturation must be backed by funds from Brussels or the federal government. LH Stelzer calculates that the costs of creating the data for the measures alone would cost the state of Upper Austria tens of millions of euros. The countries have now agreed to compile their information once.

Also the Salzburg financial officer LH Dr. Wilfried Haslauer calls for better cooperation between the federal and state governments because it has become “a bit common for the federal government to invent regulations and impose additional burdens on the states.” As an example, he cited the surcharge on unemployment benefits for AMS course participants. This has been removed from the assessment basis and thus brings additional costs for the states. This was introduced via an initiative motion, so that the consultation mechanism could not even be activated. We do not want to pre-empt government negotiations about individual funding measures – such as whether the climate bonus should be retained or not – but, emphasized LH Haslauer: “It is important to us that we are involved in the negotiations before a coalition pact is concluded.”

Vienna City Councilor for Finance Peter Hanke also praised the cooperation and culture of discussion between the states, and he also added: “The federal government must also negotiate with us on an equal footing.” He also calls for the necessary reform of the Austrian Stability Pact to take place at the latest must be available in the spring of next year.