The Fourth Joint Budget Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Yasna Provoste (DC), rejected the Higher Education budget allocation in the first week of discussion of the 2027 Budget, according to Diario Financiero. Congress began reviewing the bill on Monday, October 5.
To understand the process, think of the budget as a large spreadsheet divided into chapters, called allocations. Each ministry has its own. To review them, Congress distributes them among five joint subcommittees made up of deputies and senators.
The Fourth handles some of the most sensitive: funding for Congress itself, the ministries of Culture, Science, National Assets and Education, and regional governments, among others. According to the newspaper, Education and regional governments stirred controversy even before the legislative process began.
In Education, the focus is on the elimination of the "Yo elijo mi PC" program, which provides computers to students. For regional governments, the frustration concerns a reduction in allocated funding compared with the previous year. Diario Financiero does not specify the amount of that cut.
According to the newspaper, the rejection of Higher Education may have been influenced by a letter from Juan Carlos de la Llera, rector of the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC). He wrote as president of the G9, the network of non-state public universities.
The letter was read to the subcommittee by PUC's vice rector for economic affairs, María Fernanda Vicuña. In it, De la Llera "respectfully" requested that the government's proposal be rejected as presented, after detailing his reasons.
Since then, the newspaper reports, the view has taken hold that this panel will give the executive branch the most headaches. It is one of the two subcommittees led by the opposition, and Provoste has long championed education, both in the Senate and previously in the Chamber of Deputies.
Rejection by a subcommittee is not final. The allocations continue through the Special Joint Budget Committee and then both chambers, where the government can negotiate changes.
The bill, the first from José Antonio Kast's government, totals $91.18 trillion and represents real growth of 1.5%, according to previous reports. In practice, every peso moved between allocations is a peso taken from another program.
During the week of October 12, lawmakers will be in their districts, the last legislative recess before the week of December 7. Upon their return, Congress will have until November 30 at the latest to pass the 2027 Budget.
