Low Birthrate, Livelihood, Future Industries, Regional Development, Medical Reform:
Package of 31 Bills in 5 Areas
Jeong Jeom-sik: "Opposition Only Fights... Ruling Party Focuses Solely on Livelihood and People"
On the 31st, the People Power Party designated the 'Minsheng Sympathy 531 Bills,' addressing low birth rates and revitalizing livelihoods, as the top legislative priority and the first party bill of the 22nd National Assembly. This contrasts with major opposition parties such as the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party, which set the special prosecutor law targeting the Yoon Seok-yeol administration as their first party bill. The People Power Party's decision to prioritize policy bills is interpreted as a strategic move to emphasize its clarity as a 'competent policy party,' as it has long advocated.
The People Power Party Policy Committee announced these 31 legislative tasks on the second day of the '22nd National Assembly Members Workshop,' held at the Talent Education Training Center in Cheonan, Chungnam, on the morning of the same day.
Given the increasingly severe low birth rate issue, the package includes strengthening national responsibility for resolving it and laws supporting work-family balance in response to low birth rates. To actively promote low birth rate policies, they expressed their intention to amend the Government Organization Act to establish a Vice Minister-level Low Birth Rate Response Planning Department, as recently announced by the Presidential Office and the government.
Plans also include revising the 'Act on Gender Equality in Employment and Support for Work-Family Balance' and the 'Employment Insurance Act' to integrate applications for maternity leave and parental leave, introduce paid child care leave, and expand the age range for reduced working hours during childcare from 8 to 12 years old. Additionally, they intend to amend the Labor Standards Act to support childbirth and childcare by mandating disclosure of parental leave and flexible working hours during childcare, as well as extending the application period for reduced working hours during pregnancy.
Beyond addressing low birth rates, the package strengthens the institutional foundation for caring for children born. To expand the supply of childcare services and reinforce safe guarantees for care workers, they plan to amend the Childcare Support Act. The package also includes establishing the Neulbom School Support Special Act to fully expand Neulbom Schools, implement phased full free tuition, and provide meal support during school vacations.
A livelihood revitalization package for financial investment and housing stability was also announced. The People Power Party plans to abolish the financial investment income tax while maintaining the current stock capital gains tax system. They aim to guarantee the public's financial asset formation by raising the contribution limit for Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) and increasing the tax-exempt limits on dividend and interest income.
For housing stability, they propose introducing short-term (over 6 years) non-apartment registered rentals and corporate long-term rentals (over 20 years). When unsold houses in local areas are utilized as rental housing after completion, they plan to reduce the acquisition tax by up to 50%. To support victims of jeonse fraud, they intend to grant priority purchase rights to victims, allowing LH to bid on their behalf, and provide support for legal blind spots such as illegal buildings and trust fraud. Additionally, they promised a two-year extension of the grace period for the Serious Accident Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, the abolition of the Device Distribution Act, and the enactment of the Goo Hara Act.
They also explained plans to submit package bills for fostering future industries, including the High-Level Radioactive Waste Special Act, Nuclear Power Industry Support Special Act, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Basic Act, which were not passed in the 21st National Assembly. Furthermore, they plan to submit packages for regional balanced development to reduce the gap between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, and medical reform bills to prevent the collapse of regional and essential medical services.
Unlike the Democratic Party and the Innovation Party, which submitted the special prosecutor law for Chae Sang-byeong and the Special Act on Overcoming Livelihood Crisis (providing livelihood recovery support funds), and the special prosecutor law for Han Dong-hoon as their first bills, the People Power Party, as the ruling party, announced package bills across various fields to highlight itself as a livelihood-focused party and gain public support.
After announcing the first bills at the training center, Chung Jeong-sik, chairman of the People Power Party Policy Committee, told reporters, "The bills that the opposition parties have put forward as their first bills are laws for political strife and retaliation. However, the 108 members of our People Power Party have announced the Minsheng Sympathy 531 Bills with only the livelihood and future of the people in mind."
Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, explained the reason for announcing the bills as a package: "The fundamental theme is livelihood. Although the government and ruling party made progress during the 21st National Assembly, there are parts that were not completed and need urgent attention. Therefore, none of these can be taken lightly, so we decided to divide the livelihood package into five parts."
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