The national ruling party introduced in the opinion of the 2026 Budget, which seeks to be approved this Wednesday in the chamber, articles that annul the Disability Emergency Law and the University Financing Law, two regulations sanctioned during the last year with a large majority in Congress. The incorporation of these repeals in the bill of laws was made in the last hours in the Budget and Finance Commission, despite the express rejection of the opposition and the affected social sectors.
The Disability Emergency Law, which declared the emergency of the sector until the end of 2027, and the University Financing Law, designed to ensure stable funds for study centers, had been approved by aggravated majorities in Parliament and ratified after presidential vetoes, but their implementation was practically paralyzed without the allocation of clear budget items.
Article 75 of the ruling ruling seeks to repeal both norms within the text of the Budget, which would imply not only eliminating their formal validity but also deactivating any obligation to allocate specific resources for disability and higher education in 2026. In addition, another article was added that modifies a point of the current legislation and ends the possibility of granting pensions linked to the single disability certificate, a right enshrined by the law itself that is intended to be eliminated.
The decision was interpreted as a legislative “shortcut” to annul laws won by social struggles and parliamentary majorities, and unleashed criticism inside and outside Congress. Opposition deputies described the maneuver as an affront to the institutions and respect for the norms that were discussed and voted on within Parliament.
For organizations of people with disabilities, university professors and groups in defense of public education, the inclusion of these derogations in the budget is a provocation that threatens rights already achieved and that can aggravate the situation of vulnerable sectors. The groups that promoted the laws now redouble their demands and warn that they will continue with social mobilization to prevent these provisions from being consolidated in the law.
The parliamentary treatment of the 2026 Budget is presented this week as a political and symbolic fight over the validity of social rights already enshrined, in the midst of a broader dispute over fiscal priorities and the orientation of public spending for next year.
