
National Congress Agrees on a Budget for 2021!
After much debate and negotiation within the floors of the National Congress, the Progressives along with the Free Liberalist Political Alliance (Comprising of the Civil Populists, Eastern Leagioans, and Social Democrats) came to an agreement for the new budget for the Commonwealth that will take effect on January 26th this year. For the budget that contains over 380 Billion Sulias or 257 Billion Euros that was collected from taxes last year, the budget for 2021 was established with a balance splitting for many sectors of the Leagioan Economy.

The budget was drafted by the two main factions of both houses of the National Congress, where there was not a deficit included within it for the next fiscal year. Although, the Commonwealth still has the loan from the European Union that it will have to pay for this year but Speaker of the House Shinichi Mouri-Kudo explained that was for the purpose of the emergency funds that is developed within the budget. Over 10 Billion Sulia's or 7 Billion euros was set aside for economic emergencies or other types of situations with a small part of it being used to pay off the loan to the European Union that the Commonwealth acquired early last year to build additional electric power plants. Other divisions and changes that were made to the budget that are different from last year was an increase in Education, Science, Administration, and Housing & Urban Development (which were parts of the campaign promises made by both Progressives and Civil Populists).
However, there were changes in terms of cutbacks and divisions that were different from the 2020 budget made by the President at the time that it was passed. One thing the categories of Energy, Environment, and Agriculture were divided from each other as well as the Interior section that existed in last year's budget. For this year's budget as part of a promise to ensure that the energy crisis that the Commonwealth is at risk of having can be solved, the president asked the House as well as Senate Committee of the Economy and their Budget counterparts to see that 38 Billion Sulias or 25 Billion Euros were set aside for improvements in the Leagioan Energy sector with the provision that the money not be used to produce energy in the Commonwealth that is not green as well as clean. This provision was meet by heavy resistance from members of the Republican Political Alliance (comproising of the Conservatives, Christian Democratic-Republicans, and Common Nationalists) who stated that in the floor of both houses of the Congress that clean as well as green energy especially the concept of global warming is a liberal hoax. However, this provision was approved without much difficulty from either house of the Congress where the Free Liberalists, as well as Progressives (who control the Senate), have a majority.
When negotiating for the Agriculture secotor set aside about 5% of the budget for especially the newly formed Ministry of Agriculture, where subsidies would be provided to farmers to produce crops that like Corn, Wheat, Rice, and Soybeans. However, there was another provision that was provided for farming in the Eastern Sector of the Commonwealth, particularly the Eastern Territories, where land would be provided to farmers at cheap prices and granted additional subsides if they produce certain types of desert crops in the sandy lands of Leagio.
However, one sector that was cut in the budget deeply was the Industry sector which was 11% last year but is now established at about 8% of the budget. When asked by a reporter of the LBC, House Chairman of the Budget Tom Kelly answered that "the industry sector of the Commonwealth has experience tremedous growth last year with its introduction to the European Union, which illustrates that to ensure that other sectors are going to do well in the EU, it was decided that some of the budget could be cut and diverted to other sectors of the Commonwealth Economy." However, even though it was cut, the budget did contain provisions for any car company owned by Leagio shareholders that transitions to build green as well as electric cars by 2025 to receive tax cuts as long as they show that they are indeed making that transition.
Another cut that was made in Law Enforcement and Public Transportation, which was small in numbers. However, the budget has also included other unique provisions that is showing to have strong strides to the ideas that Juncker introduce not too long on the New Green Deal. In fact, a number of politicians that supported the provision directly the Ministry of Environment to plant over 450,000 Acres of trees in hills of the State of Jullien for this year admitted that it was inspired by the Internal Affairs Commissioner Juncker's New Green Deal, which has not yet been fully released to the public yet but has been heavily anticipated by mainly of his Leagioan Supporters that voted for him back in August, where he would with a decent lead in Leagioan election standards. Another provision that was included within the budget for 2021 was that thye Ministry of Research & Science was to issue a studied report within 6 months on the ways and means that the Common Government can increase the method of efficient recycling within the Commonwealth of Leagio.
The Budget was submitted to a vote within the House of Councilors yesterday after being introduced which was voted with 334 FOR, 191 AGAINST, and 16 ABSTAINING. Afterward, the Budget went to the Senate which was controlled by the Progressives with 63 FOR, 35 AGAINST, and 2 ABSTAINING. A good number of the Councilors and Senators from the Socialist Union Party and Green Party voted for the budget, but stated that they felt that it was still not enough to check the balances of capitalism. Today, the budget was sent to President Lifejumper who signed the budget with some people beliving that it might be one of the last major bills of legislation that he will be signing as President of Commonwealth, while Governor-General Mark Gorge (who failed to win the party primary for President for this year's executive election will be having to holding the Free Liberalist candidate for President wins to give him a job for the government).