The deadline for using federal funds to invest in the area expires in December and managers are having difficulty using the resources
BRASÍLIA – With six months to go until the end of the year, the 26 states and the Federal District risk losing R$ 370 million transferred from the Union since 2019, due to delays in applying the funds to public security policies.
The amount corresponds to the balance of the transfer account, made through the National Public Security Fund (FNSP), whose maturity expires in December. It is R$ 131 million grouped related to the transfer made in 2019 (93% of the total transferred this year has been executed) and another R$ 239 million of the total transferred in the 2020 financial year (of which 84% has been executed).
The budget transferred from the FNSP to the States must be used to finance public security policies, based on criteria defined by the federal government. The priorities must be the reduction of homicides, the fight against organized crime, the defense of property, the fight against violence against women and the improvement of the quality of life of the security forces.
The fund was created in 2018, under the government of Michel Temer, to support projects in the area of public safety and violence prevention. Administered by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), the money from the fund is to be used for re-equipment, training and qualification programs for the civil and military police, firefighters and municipal guards, information, intelligence and investigation systems, modernization of the technical-scientific police and community policing, and crime and violence prevention programs.
Therefore, this amount cannot be used to pay salaries and benefits or be transferred to other states or third sector entities, for example. A technical team from MJSP analyses the allocation of resources before approving it.
From 2019 to 2023, the Union transferred R$4.4 billion, of which almost half (R$2.8 billion) has yet to be executed. In 2024, the forecast is that the transfer will be R$1.1 billion.
If the states do not use the resources by December, the R$ 370 million for the years 2019 and 2020 will have to be returned and will be used to pay the public debt. Now, the MJSP is working to extend this deadline and give governors more time to execute 100% of this money.
The pooling of these values has become one of the concerns of the new director of the fund, Camila Pintarelliwho took office in March. The department found that state secretariats of Public Safety were having technical difficulties in making these expenditures efficiently.
Appointed by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, Camila created the FNSP Interfederal Network, which consists of strengthening dialogue and support for state leaders, to help them in the implementation of the budget. Monthly meetings are held with the competent authorities of each state to clarify doubts about the process.
“It may sound silly, but it has a transformative practical effect. By putting everyone at the same table, they realize they can learn from each other’s experiences. With this network, we can answer questions at scale,” says Camila.
Since it was implemented four months ago, this monitoring routine has helped states unlock approximately R$800 million of the R$2.8 billion transferred, which are reserved by state governments for execution.
The idea of the National Secretariat of Public Security, under the command of Mario Sarrubbo, is to allow the States to be able to use, from now on, this budget more easily, to free them from the need for constant monitoring as what is being done.
“We have had a lot of problems with the bureaucratic obstacles to make these investments happen. Our mission is to start by structuring policies that will serve forever, no matter what government takes over here,” Sarrubbo says.
There is a discrepancy in the implementation of this budget among the states: while some have invested almost the entire amount received, others have used little of it. São Paulo tops the list, having implemented 85% of the R$ 168.8 million transferred from 2019 to 2022. Rio Grande do Sul follows (85% of the R$ 130.9 million) and Paraná (71.4% of the R$ 132.6 million).
On the other hand, Santa Catarina occupies the last position, having spent only 34.2% of the R$ 100.9 million received in this period. Asked about the reason for the delay in these investments, the Secretariat of Public Security of Santa Catarina reported, in a note, that “difficulties such as the modification of the law on tenders, where all processes in Santa Catarina had been suspended until the new adaptation, have already been addressed and overcome and, in the year 2024, these resources are about to be contracted and executed in their entirety.”
Source: Terra
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