During the specialty vote on the State Budget for 2026 (OE2026), a proposal by Livre was approved for the Government to ensure, in 2026, the creation of the necessary positions to hire school psychologists in school groups and ungrouped schools, guaranteeing a ratio of at least one psychologist per 500 students.
Additionally, a proposal was approved for the Government to ensure the operation and expansion of community mental health teams in the coming year.
Livre argues that “the continuity and funding of these teams, beyond the support period of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, are essential to ensure close monitoring of populations and prevent the reversal of gains achieved in mental health reform.”
Another proposal by Livre was approved with only Chega voting against, to disaggregate and expand the listing, within the global budget allocation to the Assembly of the Republic, to the budgets of all independent administrative entities functioning with the parliament.
This measure, similar to one approved last year as part of OE2025, aims to expand the disaggregation of budgets within the global allocation to all independent administrative entities functioning with the parliament and not just the four entities currently contemplated in the proposal presented by the Government.
The executive’s bill stipulated that this disaggregation would cover only the National Elections Commission, the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents, the National Data Protection Commission, and the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences.
The party highlights that this decision excluded entities such as the Council for Climate Action or the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination, which operate in partnership with the Assembly of the Republic and whose budgetary allocation is included in its budget but were not listed in the State Budget proposal for 2026 presented by the executive.
[Updated at 5:33 PM]
