Lawmakers Revise Antigraft Legislation Opposed by Business and Vetoed by Pena Nieto Juan Montes - The Wall Street Journal
go to original July 7, 2016

President Enrique Peña Nieto (Associated Press)

Mexico’s Congress on Wednesday passed a reworked version of anticorruption legislation, stripping out a controversial section that had been opposed by business groups and vetoed by President Enrique Peña Nieto.

The offending clause had required all individuals or companies that receive and spend public funds to submit statements of assets, interests, and proof of tax filings to authorities, but it caused a public outcry from Mexican business and advocacy groups.

Mr. Peña Nieto returned the bill to Congress last month, and asked legislators to remove the clause. The measure, inserted into broad anticorruption legislation by the Senate in mid-June during a late-night session, extended to the private sector the measure that requires public servants to submit that kind of information.

The clause would have meant that millions of government interns and retirees would have had to present their statements of assets, taxes and interests, which critics said would have made the antigraft measure unmanageable for authorities and created unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for citizens.

In recent weeks, senior officials at Mexico’s main business groups insisted the clause was in retaliation for the active role the private sector played in demanding that public servants make their assets public.

...Lawmakers in the lower house approved removal of the clause by a wide majority, with the support of the ruling party and many members of the opposition. The changes had been approved by the Senate on Tuesday.

Read the rest at The Wall Street Journal

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!