Minister of Labor, Hubertus Heil’s plan to cut off support for citizen’s income recipients in case of work refusal will be implemented later than initially planned. The reason: a blockade in the Bundesrat.
The Federal Council must approve the budget finance law, which also includes Heil’s tough plan for cutting off citizen’s income.
Dispute over agricultural diesel causes delay
The states are not objecting to the sanctions planned by Heil. Rather, the states led by CDU and CSU did not want to discuss the budget law in the early February session to demonstrate their solidarity with the farmers. The budget finance law also includes the abolition of tax relief for agricultural diesel. State Secretary Conrad Clemens, the representative of the Free State of Saxony to the Federation, had justified the delay on the messaging service X accordingly: “This gives us time to address the demands of the farmers once again.”
The next meeting of the Bundesrat will not take place until March 22. In Germany, around 5.6 million people receive citizen’s income. Speaking to Bild, Heil said they want to “tighten sanctions against total refusers.”
