La Libertad Avanza proposes closing the Senate in Santa Fe and saving millions

In an ambitious political plan seeking to modify the legislative structure of the province of Santa Fe, La Libertad Avanza (LLA) proposes eliminating the provincial Senate as part of a constitutional reform.

The project aims to establish a unicameral system with mixed representation, similar to those used in provinces like Córdoba and La Pampa. This change would generate a significant saving of money in political expenses that could be allocated to essential areas such as education, security, and health.

The national deputy for Santa Fe and constituent candidate, Nicolás Mayoraz, stated that the elimination of the provincial Senate aims to end "the concentration of power of the political caste" and would allow saving "hundreds of millions of pesos a year".

Mayoraz detailed that the proposed unicameral model would combine legislators elected both by single district and by departmental or regional representation. According to his estimates, the reduction of expenses in the functioning of the Legislature would be equivalent to the purchase of 300 ambulances, 1,500 patrol cars, or even doubling the teacher's salary for a year.

According to Nicolás Mayoraz, the funds saved by eliminating the Upper House could be used for the hiring of 6,150 additional police officers per year, the increase in the number of prosecutors, or an increase in the budget of the judicial system.

"The Senate's budget today is less than a tenth of what is spent on these essential areas," the deputy emphasized.

Currently, the Santa Fe Legislature is composed of 69 legislators between both chambers. LLA's proposal foresees maintaining a similar number of representatives, as long as adequate proportionality is guaranteed.

"We don't have a fixed number, and it will depend on the dialogue with other forces. But we believe that the mere elimination of the Senate, even maintaining the number of 69 legislators, will imply a very important saving for all Santafesinos, as happened in the provinces that adopted this system," Mayoraz concluded.

A necessary change

Juan Pedro Aleart, candidate for Constituent Convention for the Rosario Department, also spoke about the proposal to eliminate the Senate in Santa Fe, highlighting the high costs involved in maintaining this chamber.

"It's 60 billion pesos that the caste spends to maintain their privileges," Aleart stated, highlighting the unnecessary public spending and what could be allocated to other essential sectors.

In his intervention, Aleart suggested that with the elimination of the Senate, resources could be redirected to key areas such as education and security: "It's 95,000 basic salaries of Santafesino teachers. Another 82,000 basic salaries of police officers," he noted, proposing a redistribution of those funds for the benefit of Santafesinos.

Additionally, the candidate reaffirmed La Libertad Avanza's stance as a political alternative against the privileges of the traditional political class.

"We are the only option for these elections that goes against the privileges of politics. How can it be that Córdoba's legislature spends 4 times less than Santa Fe's. It's unacceptable and that's why we are going for the unification of the chambers," he indicated, questioning the disparities in public spending of the provinces.

Aleart also lashed out against the governor of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaro, accusing him of having made a pact with the senators to preserve their privileges in exchange for securing his reelection.

"The reform law is made at the request of the caste. The reform is conditioned, it's authoritarian and constrained so that nothing changes, a notary of the moment at Pullaro's request," he concluded, expressing his rejection of the reforms proposed by the governor.