SUWON — The Democratic Party caucus in the Gyeonggi Provincial Council stressed the need to restore livelihood spending tied directly to residents' daily lives as the council reviews the province's supplementary budget proposal.
Floor leader Ahn Kwang-ryul and other caucus leaders held a press conference at the council on the 2nd, saying that residents' daily lives and hopes should not be pushed down the priority list simply because finances are tight. "We will protect to the end the livelihood spending that safeguards residents' lives," they said.
Ahn said the council's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts is currently reviewing the supplementary budget submitted by the province. "We do not take the province's fiscal situation lightly," he said. "We are not demanding indiscriminate increases or the full restoration of every cut."
"Within limited resources, the committee examined program by program what should be trimmed and what must be preserved," he said. "We prepared a minimum restoration plan centered on essential livelihood spending directly tied to residents' lives."
The caucus said, however, that the provincial administration has indicated it cannot accept a significant portion of the livelihood spending items. Ahn said the administration and the council may view the fiscal situation and program priorities differently, but added that "the council is a representative body that speaks for the will of residents."
The items the Democratic Party has asked to restore include improved pay and working conditions for daycare center staff, the "Big Sale" program to support the local economy, groundwork for expanding volunteer activities and kimchi-making support projects, inspections of unmanned enforcement equipment in school zones, discount coupons for Gyeonggi Province agricultural and fisheries products, and universal support for sanitary products for young women.
"These programs cannot be seen as mere numbers in a budget document," Ahn said. "Behind them are daycare teachers and staff, small business owners and the self-employed, farmers and fishermen, children's safety, the health and basic rights of young women, and the winter of neighbors in difficulty."
He also acknowledged the structural difficulties in the province's finances. A revenue structure exposed to swings in the property market and rising mandatory spending are challenges that need to be addressed, he said. Still, he said, "the process of putting finances in order must not become a process of giving up on residents' lives first."
"The purpose of fiscal soundness is also to protect residents' lives in a stable way," he said. "The harder the times, the more administration and politics must first protect residents' daily lives."
The Democratic Party caucus also said it would continue consultations with the provincial administration. "We will accept reasonable views, and the council will yield where it can," Ahn said. "But we will protect to the end the minimum livelihood spending that is directly tied to residents' lives."
"What is needed now is not to decide who wins between the council and the administration," he said. "It is to decide what residents need."
