Last week, the relevant members of the Cabinet discussed more than 800 statements drawing attention to several shortcomings in the bill, and a political agreement was reached late Friday. According to Helsingin Sanomat.
Opinions focused in particular on issues such as municipal funding, the proposed 21 welfare service areas and rescue services; tax rights, autonomy and control of welfare service areas, responsibility for organizing social and health services and promoting health and well-being; and implementation schedule, the government listed in section press release.
Funding concerns were common, especially in the metropolitan area and other urban population centers due to, for example, projected loss of tax revenue in welfare service areas and their impact on their ability to provide social and health services to residents.
The regions are scheduled to start collecting taxes in 2026. However, the change will not affect the overall tax rate.
The government estimates that the establishment of autonomous regions will allow a gradual transition to a county with a wide range of functions, the scope of which must be determined by a parliamentary committee by the end of 2020.
Minister for Climate and Environment Krista Mikkonen (The Greens) said at the press conference that they were pleased that the reform process had progressed again.
โIt is important that we succeed in pushing this finish line this time,โ he said, drawing attention to the need to address the growing health inequality, promote equal access to care and mitigate the increase in social and health care costs.
Minister of Culture and Education Li Andersson (Left Alliance) recalled that the government cannot afford not to implement reform because it is needed as urgently as ever before. He added that the government should learn from past mistakes and pay more attention to the remarks of Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
It is equally important that all ruling parties are committed to granting tax rights to welfare service areas and ensuring that the reform puts an end to large-scale outsourcing, according to Andersson.
โDecisions about care and official duties that affect public power and peopleโs fundamental rights should no longer be made to market-based actors,โ he stressed.
The government, he also assured, does not intend to make it impossible to supplement public services with private ones.
“Personally, I see that the regions must have enough of their own public service production so that the responsibility for organizing services can be met in different circumstances,” he outlined in response to a question from Helsingin Sanomat.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page