EDITORIAL: Opposition dragging feet on budgetOpposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers on Friday again blocked the general budget for this year, saying that it was because the government failed to propose a budget consistent with the law. As the new year enters its second week, this year’s general budget remains unreviewed, and the Cabinet and legislature are still at an impasse. The Cabinet warned that failure to pass the general budget would cause NT$299.2 billion (US$9.5 billion) in funds for a wide range of services and development — including new initiatives, disaster response, defense, healthcare resilience and local government subsidies — to remain inaccessible. Most local government heads are KMT members, so their concerns about possible TPass disruption due to delayed budget review, which could freeze discounts for more than 1 million regular TPass users, has put pressure back on the KMT lawmakers. Are increased pensions for retired police officers, firefighters and civil servants more important than subsidies for long-term care services?
