The regional governors ended their meeting this Friday with Budget Director José Pablo Gómez without an agreement. After the meeting, they called on lawmakers to vote against item 31 of the 2027 Budget, which funds regional governments (GORE).
According to Diario Financiero, three governors from the Association of Regional Governors of Chile (Agorechi) attended the meeting: Rodrigo Mundaca of Valparaíso; Claudio Orrego of Santiago; and Pablo Silva Amaya of O'Higgins. Their central complaint is this: the 2027 Budget bill reduces funding for regional governments by $250,000 million.
The Budget Directorate (Dipres), the Ministry of Finance agency that draws up public spending plans, offered measures to provide flexibility in spending the funds. For Mundaca, acting president of Agorechi, they are insufficient. According to Radio Universidad de Chile, the governor said that "the $250 billion has not changed" and that those flexibilities "matter little to us" without a change in the amount.
Mundaca also criticized the tone of the negotiations. "We have been engaged in a dialogue of the deaf, in which there is also an attempt to impose a carrot-and-stick policy, and we reject that outright," he said. In his view, the cut will affect employment and investment.
Silva pointed to an inconsistency in the government's position. He explained that regional government funds are not made available until March or April each year, delaying spending. He therefore considers it a mistake to justify the cut on the basis of budget execution. He added that the three regions represented have historically spent 100% of their funds.
The governor of O'Higgins also warned that the reduction carries over for four years. In his region, the cut amounts to $18,000 million less in 2027, but adds up to $75,000 million over four years in lost investment, according to his calculations.
Orrego alleged a contradiction with the government's stated position. "It says it wants to draw up a pro-employment budget and cuts $250 billion from regional governments," he said, referring to the executive branch. He noted that regional governments carry out public works in the country's 345 municipalities and support the Carabineros, the Investigative Police, health care, education and the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred).
The governor of Santiago called for the allocation to be rejected until the government restores the 2026 budget and adds flexibility in spending it. The sources do not detail how Dipres responded or what flexibility measures it offered.
The dispute will be resolved in Congress. The Fourth Joint Budget Subcommittee will vote on the allocation on Monday, October 19, between 12:00 and 14:00, in Valparaíso. According to Silva, lawmakers on the committee told them beforehand that they would reject the proposal.
