Legislators clashed yesterday over the Legislative Yuan’s own budget, which remained untouched despite cuts elsewhere. Opposition lawmakers reduced funding for numerous government agencies while leaving their own allocation intact. This disparity has sparked debate over consistency in legislative budget oversight practices.
A legislative report revealed that only two committees completed preliminary reviews of this year’s general budget plan. Meanwhile, six additional committees have yet to submit their own budget reports. Consequently, the overall review process remains significantly delayed more than 300 days later.
Specifically, lawmakers preserved NT$3.87 billion allocated to the opposition-dominated legislature without applying any cuts whatsoever. However, they did retain seven proposals from Democratic Progressive Party legislators to freeze roughly NT$120 million. This freeze represents a small fraction compared to the legislature’s overall budget allocation.
DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung argued that lawmakers should apply consistent standards during budget review. Specifically, he noted that legislators cut administrative agency funding while leaving their own budget completely untouched. Therefore, he suggested this discrepancy undermines the credibility of legislative oversight efforts significantly.
Chuang further stated that leaving self-funding intact while cutting others raises legitimate public concerns. According to him, this practice suggests lawmakers apply strict standards to others but leniency toward themselves. Consequently, he warned that oversight loses meaning when legislators exempt themselves from equal scrutiny.
Meanwhile, KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang defended the current legislative budget review process publicly. He argued that legislators need full budget transparency to properly oversee government spending decisions. Additionally, he emphasized that the legislature’s own budget deserves equal public scrutiny going forward.
Nevertheless, Lin cautioned against turning budget review into a competitive numbers game among lawmakers. He explained that cutting more should not automatically earn praise, nor less cutting blame. Moving forward, this debate will likely continue shaping how legislators approach future budget review sessions.
