News of Special Grants Secured by Each Lawmaker's Office
Ministry of the Interior and Safety: "If Local Governments Apply for Special Grants, the Ministry Reviews Them"
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "Assemblyman XXX secured OOO billion won in special grants from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to promote urgent projects that improve the quality of life and safety of local residents."
On the 13th, articles claiming that special grants were secured for constituencies have been pouring in from assembly offices regardless of party or seniority. The press releases provided by the offices included the project names and the amount of special grants received this time, along with self-praise and determination from the assemblymen such as "a great achievement in securing abundant national funds" and "we will continue to do our best to secure special grants."
From the materials alone, it appears as if the assemblymen fiercely competed to secure limited budgets and successfully ‘secured’ central government funds. However, when considering experts, government officials, and academic research collectively, the assemblymen’s ‘achievements’ are closer to piggybacking rather than genuine accomplishments.
What is going on?
Regardless of party or seniority, assembly offices have recently been flooding the media with press releases claiming they secured special grants from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. These funds support local long-standing or necessary projects such as landscape improvement, hiking trail maintenance, shade installation, local sports facilities, road maintenance and improvement, CCTV installation, and bridge repairs, with budgets ranging from hundreds of millions to tens of billions of won. Although there are differences among local governments, the special grant amounts ‘promoted’ by assembly offices range from several hundred million won to over 10 billion won.
This surge in reports is due to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety recently completing the distribution of special grants.
For residents, it is good news that budgets related to local issues have been secured, leading to improved facilities and benefiting the local economy. Moreover, since special grants come from the central government’s limited budget, residents welcome it enthusiastically as funds ‘won’ for their own area rather than going elsewhere. Assemblymen, as representatives of residents, can also highlight that they have secured budgets for their constituencies and have addressed local issues, so they actively seize the opportunity to promote this.
What is a special grant?
Where does this money come from? Local governments receive 19.24% of domestic taxes annually from the central government as local allocation tax. This allocation tax is distributed to cover local governments’ budget shortfalls and to reduce financial disparities among local governments. Of this, 97% is paid as general allocation tax, and the remaining 3% is special grants. Recently, special grants have ranged between 10 trillion and 20 trillion won depending on the size of domestic taxes.
The budgets that assemblymen are eagerly promoting this time are part of these special grants allocated for local urgent issues. Of these, 40% is used for local urgent demand purposes, and the rest is used for national policy projects or disaster countermeasures.
The allocation of grants for local urgent issues is not a budget that assemblymen apply for; rather, local governments establish project plans and apply for grants to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The ministry then selects projects based on effectiveness, necessity, and urgency.
An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "Special grants are distributed two to three times a year. This year, after the initial distribution early in the year, the next distribution was made now to avoid the local election schedule."
Thanks to your political power?
The question is whether these special grants were secured because assemblymen exerted influence on the central government to obtain related budgets.
Of course, that possibility cannot be ruled out. However, the reality is that they likely did not play a major role in securing the budget.
There has been controversy among experts and academia about the method of distributing special grants. It has been argued that ruling party members, senior members, or those belonging to the Administrative Safety Committee under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety tend to receive more budget. The special grants were seen as budgets won by powerful politicians. Due to these concerns, experts have pointed out the need for fairness and transparency. Thanks to these efforts, the proportion of special grants in the total budget has gradually decreased, and the system has become more transparent.
As a result, academia and experts now believe that who the local assemblyman is matters less in the distribution of special grants. Lee Sang-min, senior research fellow at the National Budget Research Institute, explained, "Research on the distribution method of special grants has been conducted, and recent trends show no correlation with ruling party membership, seniority, or committee membership." In other words, there is no trend of ruling party, senior, or Administrative Safety Committee members’ constituencies receiving more special grants.
According to related research ("A Study on the Political Influence on the Distribution of Special Grants: Focusing on the Characteristics of the National Assembly’s Safety and Administration Committee and Local Government Heads"), "political influence on the distribution of special grants has decreased compared to previous studies," and "distribution is becoming more rational."
The government’s explanation is similar. An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "Special grants are distributed based on applications from local governments and subsequent reviews. While assemblymen can consult with local governments, there is no direct communication with the ministry regarding this budget." Interpreted literally, this means there was no pressure or lobbying by assemblymen related to special grants.
The official also explained, "The scale of special grants allocated by region is reported to the National Assembly early each year and made public. The amount varies each year depending on current issues."
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