Hesse in budget chaos: Black and Red are fighting for survival!

Hesse in budget chaos: Black and Red are fighting for survival!

A bitter dispute is raging in the Hessian state parliament over the black-red coalition's first budget plan for 2025. In the midst of an urgent economic crisis and looming tax losses, Finance Minister Alexander Lorz (CDU) presents figures that envisage expenditure of around 38 billion euros and new debt of 670 million euros hessenschau.de reported. The coalition promotes fundamental optimism, while the opposition criticizes budget planning as a “home-made” problem and denounces the lessons of the past and the structural crisis.

Painful cuts and protests

The opposition sees the planned savings as an inadequate response to the current challenges. While the government emphasizes that cuts would not be radical, the delay in salary increases for civil servants is denounced as a “break of word”. Around 100 civil servants protested against the cuts on the sidelines of the meeting, further inflaming tensions. Contrary to the promises, the intended increase in civil servants' salaries by a total of around ten percent is being postponed, which is met with strong criticism, especially from those affected fr.de reported.

While the government is focusing on future-oriented projects under the current economic conditions, such as the “Hessengeld” to promote home ownership, opposition leaders are complaining about supposed inefficiency and ideological cuts in the area of ​​climate protection. For the opposition - especially the Greens and the FDP - the budget planning shows that the CDU and SPD are not prepared to take faster and more effective measures to support the population and officials in this critical phase. Essentially, the next steps in the debate are now underway, with a general debate scheduled for next month. The final adoption of the budget will then take place in March.