Senator Javier Macaya (UDI) chairs the Special Joint Budget Committee, which this week began considering the 2027 Budget Bill, according to Emol. This is the first time the lawmaker has led the committee.
Macaya takes the role because he chairs the Senate Finance Committee. He has held that position for the second time since March of this year. During 2026, he also led the Finance Committee's consideration of the Reconstruction Plan promoted by the executive branch.
The joint committee, known as the "Big Joint Committee," brings together 13 deputies and 13 senators. Its members then divide into five subcommittees, which separately review the different public spending allocations. The source does not specify the deadline for completing consideration of the bill.
The debate requires a high level of technical expertise. According to Emol, in previous periods this work fell to lawmakers with an economic background, such as former senators Juan Antonio Coloma (UDI) and José García Ruminot (RN), as well as Felipe Kast (Evópoli).
Macaya regained prominence in the budget debate in 2025, when he took a seat on the Senate Finance Committee. However, his fellow opposition members on that committee, Rodolfo Carter (independent-Republican) and María José Gatica (RN), are serving on it for the first time.
The right wing's representation on the joint committee shows a similar picture, with many of its members taking part in a debate at this level for the first time. Among the most experienced are Deputy Agustín Romero (Republicans), chair of the Chamber of Deputies Finance Committee, and Senator Luciano Cruz-Coke (Evópoli). Senator Gustavo Sanhueza (UDI) and deputies Diego Schalper (RN) and Flor Weisse (UDI) have also participated before.
Speaking to La Tercera, Macaya said President José Antonio Kast's government had come "to put the house in order" on the fiscal deficit. He cautioned, however, that this process would not produce results during the first year of budget implementation.
The senator said he was optimistic about growth. "In this case, I am among the optimists, who think that it is in 2027, probably at the end of the first half of next year, that we should begin to see our economy get back on its feet," he said. He added that the effects of Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz's "mega-reform" would be seen in the medium term.
Macaya also criticized the current budget, drawn up by the previous administration. On Radio Universo, he said that the bill "underestimated spending on public sector workers' pay, on their pension contributions, on programs that ultimately cost the country more money."
Regarding the priorities of the 2027 bill, he defended the emphasis on economic recovery, employment and health. "Governing also means setting priorities; Chile is not Norway, Denmark or a Scandinavian country," he said.
His involvement in budget matters dates back to the Chamber of Deputies. In 2010, he took office as a deputy for what was then District 34 in O'Higgins, chaired the Health Committee and served on the Finance Committee. He was reelected in 2014 and represented District 15 between 2018 and 2022.
For ordinary citizens, the joint committee's decisions in the coming weeks will determine how much money health, education, security and employment programs receive in 2027.
