The federal government’s planned pension reform includes, among other things, the abolition of the so-called ‘pension at 63’. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Manuela Schwesig (SPD) announced in an interview with Info that she would oppose it in the Bundesrat. ‘The statutory pension is existential for many people in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – just as for the entire East,’ said the SPD politician. She considers it unfair that people who have worked and paid contributions for 45 years can no longer retire early.
Schwesig also criticized the planned income tax reform. People with monthly incomes of up to 3,000 euros in particular are under financial pressure. ‘Many people in our country have only low and middle incomes,’ she said. The focus must be on relieving them. She considers it acceptable for people with very high incomes – from 200,000 euros per year – to make a higher contribution. There should be no tax increases for annual incomes up to 100,000 euros.
The income tax reform is one of the so-called consent laws, for which an absolute majority in the Bundesrat is required for implementation. Schwesig hinted that there could be a showdown if necessary: ‘I can use my vote and our votes in the Bundesrat to ensure that social reforms do not hit the working middle class the hardest.’
Source: www.ndr.de
