The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
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Meeting with the President
Speaker of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast Oksana Kozlovskaya took part in the regular session of the Russian Council of Legislators which took place in St. Petersburg on April 30 on the threshold of the Day of Russian Parliamentarism.
Among the key topics of the first part of the session was raising the efficiency of budget relations and improving the sustainability of regional and municipal budgets. Namely, discussions were centered around the financial assurance of the activity of the regional executive bodies and local governments; efficiency of actions to increase the fiscal capacity of the local budgets; implementation of the national program Creating conditions for efficient and responsible management of regional and municipal finance and improving sustainability of the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
In his speech before the regional lawmakers Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov suggested analyzing the existing federal benefits for taxpayers in the regions – today they total 1 trillion rubles – and put a freeze on new benefits. He proposed to cancel certain benefits and make the rest of them active for a finite period of time based on the so called ‘accumulated effect’. He also suggested putting a freeze on increasing financial liabilities of the regions without permanent funding sources.
The Finance Minister proposed to raise the individual property tax through a phased transition to its calculation based on cadastral value. He believes, that will help expand taxable sources. At the same time, local governments will be proposed to tax idle property. As for the costs, the Ministry of Finance believes that the regions should act within their liabilities but at the same time "there is a need for significant room for maneuver", detailed estimation of costs to make sure unfinanced areas of authority are eliminated, and a focus on first priority tasks formulated in roadmaps.
Anton Siluanov also informed that the Russian Government will promote substitution of commercial loans for the regions with cheaper budget loans at reduced interest rates.
He emphasized that the proposals to improve tax legislation will be submitted to the spring session of the State Duma.
Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Russia Tatiana Golikova raised a serious concern over current debt liabilities of the regions and a dramatic drop in the numbers of donor regions. She provided an example how seemingly insignificant amendments could dramatically change the concept of a law and result in additional financial liabilities.
Oksana Kozlovskaya commented, "Tatiana Golikova introduced a revolutionary proposal. Given the existing debt load on many regions, she suggested reclassifying budget loans into subsidies."
Chairman of the State Duma Budget and Taxes Committee Andrey Makarov supported the Finance Minister’s proposal to put on hold any new bills on increasing the financial burden on the regions which do not have permanent sources of finance and the initiative to revaluate the regions’ debts. He also urged the regions to better plan their fiscal policy.
Andrey Makarov expressed concern that in most regions the debt burden does not allow to allocate funds for development. He also criticized the efforts to preserve the institution of consolidated groups of taxpayers which are an obstacle to effective budgeting.
On the initiative of Tomsk Oblast, a science and innovations committee was established at this session of the Council of Legislators. The members will be defined within a month.
Regional lawmakers also discussed progress on the tasks set in the Presidential Address of December 12, 2013; progress on the implementation of the Russian National Children’s Strategy for 2012-2017, particularly issues such as housing for orphaned children, information security of children; parameters of the second report on the status of the Russian legislation and its development progress.
On April 28, the Council of Legislators had a field session in Petrozavodsk. President Vladimir Putin took part in the session. Lawmakers discussed progress on implementation of his May decrees and the December address, integration of Crimea and Sevastopol in the Russian Federation, and local governance problems.
Oksana Kozlovskaya shared her impressions.
"To me, it is very important that the President once again highlighted the consolidating role of regional parliaments in the society and urged to develop and reinforce this aspect. The meeting went as an open discussion with an exchange of opinions between the President and the regional lawmakers. I asked two questions and received comments of the head of the State on very topical subjects for the people of Tomsk Oblast."
"It is a well known fact that in Tomsk Oblast successfully work respectable medical research schools and world class medical experts. It is important to ensure that the reorganization of medical institutions does not negatively affect neither employees of such institutions nor the people in the region. Also, there is a very acute problem with the funding of the medical assistance system in Seversk. President said that these issues had been discussed many times and it had been decided to set a transition period for one year. Among proposed actions was creation of a group within the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund, which will work with the federal medical organizations, and allocation of extra funds to mitigate negative outcomes of the reorganization."
"Another critical problem for Tomsk Oblast and its people is roads. Our region is a vast territory with scarce population. And it only has 37 kilometers of federal roads. The Oblast budget cannot afford it all. We are seeking support from the federal budget. The President’s answer was “I understand. It is a difficult and expensive problem. Let’s look".
"On the whole, I have a very positive impression of the meeting with the President. I think, the main goal was achieved – there was an open and motivated discussion on regional problems and potential solutions."
