Legislative Report August 12: 22nd National Assembly Accelerates Legislation in Budgetary & Education Committees Amidst Stalled Public Welfare Bills

22nd National Assembly Accelerates Legislative Activities Centered on Budgetary and Education Committees

As the 22nd National Assembly settles into its full operational rhythm since its opening, legislative activities by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are becoming more concrete, primarily within the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts and the Education Committee. Lawmakers from the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, in particular, are leveraging their status as proportional representatives to identify nationwide public welfare issues and propose policy alternatives. Representatives Son Jun-soo, Jin Yu-min, Park Byung-joon, and Seo Jung-yoon are actively engaged in reviewing budget execution plans of various ministries and expediting deliberations on bills aimed at resolving structural problems in the education sector, all within the shared domains of the Budgetary and Education Committees.

Representative Son Jun-soo, through his work on the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, meticulously scrutinizes the appropriateness of the government's budget proposal and emphasizes transparency in ministries' execution plans. Concurrently, in the Education Committee, he is conducting multifaceted legislative activities, including questioning the effectiveness of educational policies. Representative Jin Yu-min, as a member of the Education Committee, is also contributing to the budget review process by participating in the proposal of bills urging on-site improvements. Representative Park Byung-joon, as a proportional representative, is focusing on proposing public welfare policies that transcend regional limitations, while simultaneously engaging in voting on Education Committee agendas and legislative activities in the economic sector. Representative Seo Jung-yoon is aiming for a rational allocation of government budgets by conducting professional reviews and concentrating on developing improvement measures for educational policies overall.

Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Over Public Welfare Bill Passage and Push for Capital Markets Act Revision

Ahead of the National Assembly plenary session, the ruling and opposition parties are engaged in a tense standoff over the passage of pending public welfare bills. The Democratic Party of Korea intends to hold a plenary session on August 13th to pass approximately 110 bills, including housing supply measures. Lee Joo-hee, the party's floor spokesperson, emphasized on the 10th, following a policy coordination meeting, that holding a plenary session is unavoidable under the National Assembly Act and urged the People Power Party to cooperate. Conversely, the People Power Party is demanding that the government's policy direction be changed and that an extraordinary economic council involving the government and parties be convened as preconditions, signaling anticipated difficulties in the actual bill passage process.

Legislative movements are also active to enhance the stability of the financial and investment markets. Kim Hyun-jung, a Democratic Party lawmaker on the National Policy Committee, has proposed an amendment to the Capital Markets Act that would allow for the flexible adjustment of leverage ratios for leveraged products based on market conditions. This amendment aims to establish a safety net to respond to the recent volatility in the stock market, with representatives Kim Nam-geun, Min Byung-deok, and 10 others co-sponsoring the bill. Chairman Joo Byung-ki has also announced plans to push for the 'Online Platform Act,' which focuses on regulating online platforms, indicating an acceleration in legislative efforts in the latter half of the year to prevent the abuse of market dominance by large corporations and enhance the bargaining power of small business owners.

Analysis of Vote Departures within the Ruling Party and Policy Divisions

Recent plenary session voting has highlighted instances of vote departures within the ruling People Power Party, raising questions about the party's internal cohesion. In the case of the partial amendment to the Public Health Control Act passed on July 23rd, 38 members of the People Power Party voted in favor, but seven, including Representatives Park Dae-chul, Park Soo-young, and Seo Ji-young, cast dissenting votes. This pattern was repeated in the passage of bills related to the Korea Rural Community Corporation and the promotion of resource recycling. Notably, Representatives Park Soo-young and Yoo Sang-bum have shown voting patterns that deviate from the party's official stance on multiple bills, revealing policy differences.

Representative Jeong Yeong-gil of the People Power Party is uniquely pursuing educational reform initiatives, engaging in independent legislative endeavors through meetings with on-site experts. Representative Jeong is preparing to propose bills for innovation in elementary, middle, and high school curricula and is actively participating in discussions within the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts to ensure fiscal soundness. This is interpreted as an attempt to seek more progressive solutions to educational issues, separate from the party's conservative stance. The vote departures within the party and individual lawmakers' independent policy pursuits are likely to become a variable in forming a unified front for the ruling party in the future passage of major contentious bills.

Government's Tax Reform and Prospects for Stricter Housing Standards

President Lee Jae-myung, during a State Council meeting, emphasized a flexible approach to accepting public objections regarding the proposed tax reform. At the State Council meeting held on the 11th at the Government Complex-Sejong, President Lee, after receiving a report on the National Tax Service's revenue collection performance, stated that it is desirable to reflect the voices of the public in the tax reform process. This suggests the possibility of amendments to tax-related bills during future parliamentary deliberations. Furthermore, given the pressing need to address the era of climate disasters, the expressed commitment to actively review revisions to minimum housing standards indicates that a comprehensive overhaul of related laws is expected.

Legal and administrative measures are also being pursued at the executive level, such as accelerating the dissemination of on-site technology through amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Rural Development Act. Han Byung-do, acting leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, responded by pledging to expedite the revision of relevant laws to ensure the success of the government's three major megaprojects, promising legislative support. Moving forward, the National Assembly is expected to engage in intense discussions focused on real estate supply measures, strengthening capital market safety nets, and housing welfare legislation in response to climate change. Particularly, as the deadline for the passage of key economic bills, scheduled for mid-September, approaches, the struggle for legislative initiative between the ruling and opposition parties is expected to intensify.