The State Duma is collecting amendments to the bill on local self-government

The Committee of the State Duma is collecting amendments for the second reading to the draft new law on the general principles of local self-government (LSG) in the unified system of public authority. This was told to Vedomosti by the head of the committee, Pavel Krasheninnikov.

According to him, work on the bill has not been stopped, although the flow of amendments has stopped. “She [работа] goes, but in a sluggish current mode. We don’t speed it up. And we will not submit it for the second reading in the spring session,” Krasheninnikov said.

He added that the committee monitors the formation of municipalities in the new subjects. “In addition, after the adoption of the law on public authority, the competences of the regions have changed, and some of them decide for themselves whether to leave the two-level system of local self-government or introduce a one-level one. We are in close contact with the regions on this topic and are monitoring the practice,” Krasheninnikov explained.

We are talking about a draft new law on local self-government, which was introduced on December 16, 2021 by Krasheninnikov together with Andrei Klishas, ​​a colleague from the Federation Council. In 2020, amendments were made to the Constitution to consolidate the concept of a “single system of public authority”, which is a combination of state authorities and local self-government bodies. In December 2021, a law was adopted on the general principles of organizing public authorities in the constituent entities of Russia. The bill by Krasheninnikov and Klishas was supposed to complete the reform. It deals with the redistribution of powers between different levels of government, the transition from a two-level LSG system to a single-level one.

Three sources close to the presidential administration told Vedomosti that the draft new law will be adopted after the presidential elections in March 2024. According to one of the interlocutors, this is due to the decision not to touch the working system until the end of the federal election cycle. Another source said that the bill was postponed due to the start of a special operation and the annexation of new territories.