How factions will vote for the budget for 2024–2026

Deputies plan to consider the budget bill in the first reading on October 26. The document can be considered in the second reading on November 15, in the third – on November 17. The government submitted it to the State Duma on September 29.

Draft budget for 2024–2026 found support from the party in power, the Liberal Democratic Party and the New People. This party notes that it is “unreasonable” not to support the country’s main financial document in the current conditions.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) announced that they would vote against it. The leader of the SRZP party and faction, Sergei Mironov, told Vedomosti that he was “categorically not satisfied” with the draft federal budget as presented.

Its main drawback is that it does not correspond to the problems and tasks that objectively face the country, Mironov explained, but did not go into much detail, noting only that “it does not contain even a hint of the economic growth and social turnaround that is necessary today.” .

For example, Mironov is dissatisfied with the fact that spending on education and healthcare is increasing “slightly” compared to the current year – by 5.6 and 3.2%, respectively. In this regard, the party (by tradition) will present an alternative draft budget with a different structure of income and expenses, its own sources of replenishment, said the head of the SRZP.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation will also vote against the federal budget for 2024–2026. State Duma deputy and head of the press service of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Alexander Yushchenko told Vedomosti. “We vitally need the mobilization of all available resources, their accelerated expansion and effective use. This applies especially to financial and economic resources,” he said.

The LDPR party is confident that the budget solves basic social issues for citizens, as its leader Leonid Slutsky told Vedomosti. “But the main thing is that it is adopted in the context of a special military operation and, in fact, should be called “Everything for the front, everything for victory,” he believes.

At the same time, the party has several proposals for the budget, including initiatives in the field of health care, sports, and science; appropriate amendments will be made to the budget, Slutsky added. In general, the LDPR supports the budget.

New People have “serious questions” about the draft budget, party leader Alexei Nechaev told Vedomosti. The party will introduce amendments to the second reading to allocate additional funding for the fight against oncology, palliative care, school repairs and other social items, he assured.

At the same time, it is unreasonable to oppose the draft budget in general “in today’s difficult economic conditions,” he is sure, so “New People” will support it.

According to the chairman of the budget committee of the Duma, Andrei Makarov, the most important thing for the United Russia faction is the implementation of those presidential messages that have become an integral part of the party’s program – we are talking about the last three messages to the Federal Assembly. The faction will vote for this project and work together with the government to improve it, Makarov added.

President of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation Mikhail Vinogradov notes that the budget process is not at the center of the agenda. The position of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the SRZP is rather an opportunity to “emphasize their opposition” without arguing with the authorities about the main military-political issues, he added.

Parties need to “painlessly” show their opposition, agrees political scientist Alexander Nemtsev. The Communists and Right Russia understand that their position will not affect the budget in any way, since the party in power has a constitutional majority in the lower house.

“They just have to show their “position” – these are the rules of the game. I think the party in power is not particularly worried about this,” Nemtsev notes. The LDPR acts “more cunningly” because they vote differently and know better how to build relationships with United Russia members, he believes.