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A unanimous Storting decided this afternoon that minimum pensions should be increased. The proposal was presented by Jonas Gahr Støre on behalf of the Labor Party.
– Now the government parties must comply, Støre tells Dagbladet.
The leader of the Labor Party believes that the Conservatives and other government parties understood that they should support a proposal that gives a boost to vulnerable groups of the elderly, who have done badly so far.
I’m not sure how much
Conservative parliamentary leader Trond Helleland declined to say when or how much the minimum pension will be increased when he gave an explanation of vote on behalf of the ruling parties when the debate over the throne came to an end on Tuesday.
– It must happen in a budgetary context, so we do not decide when and how much, but we can support the principle, Helleland said, adding that the government has increased minimum pensions three times since 2013.
– There has been a debate on the throne where the government has opposed any analysis that the differences in Norway are increasing, either from a political or research perspective. We have seen a government site supported by FRP that has relied on alternative facts based on what they think and not on what is documented, says Støre.
Otherwise, the Labor Party could have won a majority to repeal the current practice of regulating pensions, but, like the government parties, it voted against two identical proposals on this from Frp and SV.
– Minimum pensions are not under-regulated, they are subject to a different regime than the rest of the pension system, Helleland said as an explanation of why the government could vote in favor of an amendment on this point.
– Cheaper tolls
A proposal by Marit Arnstad on behalf of the Center Party that the state take responsibility for guaranteeing toll loans on national roads also received a majority from an unusual alliance made up of the Center Party, the Labor Party, the Party of the Progreso and the Red Party.
This can lead to cheaper tolls by making loans on toll projects cheaper.
– The challenge is that counties will be left with a guarantee liability of many billions of crowns. In the worst case, it could mean loss of creditworthiness. Then the interest rate can go up on all the loans the county has obtained, explains Geir Pollestad (Sp).
– I usually compare it to that if rich parents go to buy a new apartment, they go to the poor student and ask for a guarantee. It is an injustice that the State does not assume this responsibility, says Pollestad.
– What can this mean in practice?
– First, it may mean lower tolls because government-guaranteed loans are slightly cheaper than with a county guarantee. The state is rock solid and with a state guarantee, projects don’t have to go into expensive schemes to tie up loans to the same degree.
A total of 89 proposals were voted on on the second day of the Storting after the debate on the throne ended:
- The Storting adopted, against the votes of the ruling parties, a proposal by Kari Kjønaas Kjos of Frp on an amendment to the law that will prevent people between the ages of 0 and 50 from going to nursing homes against their will. In the case of children, the will of the relatives will apply.
- The majority in the Storting also decided that the government will launch a comprehensive review of Norwegian development assistance funds that have gone to the world’s most corrupt countries, following a proposal from FRP leader Siv Jensen.
