The Senate will meet this Friday from 12 p.m. to discuss this Budget 2026one of the central laws for the government of Javier Mileiwhich must approve it without changes to prevent the project from returning to the MPs. Although the ruling party has the votes necessary for general approval, the discussion focuses on Article 30whereby statutory funding targets for education and science are eliminated and also creates resistance among allies.
The extraordinary meeting was called to discuss two projects: the 2026 budget and the initiative of Fiscal Innocence, which allows laundering of dollars acquired on the informal market. In the case of the budget, the goal is of Freedom Advances (LLA) is to adopt the text presented by the House of Commons without reopening the debate on sensitive articles that forced the ruling party to give in weeks ago.
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What is being voted on and why it is crucial to the government
The project sets the fiscal roadmap for 2026after two consecutive years of extension of the 2023 budget. For the executive branch, its sanction is crucial for three reasons: it allows it to plan spending and resources, it enables it to finance operations, and it acts as a political signal to international organizations and the markets about the government’s ability to form legislative majorities.
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The text approved by the deputies provides a gross domestic product growth of 5%, annual inflation of 10.1% and an official dollar of $1,423 (as of December 2026).Numbers that are considered optimistic even in Congress. It also includes powers for the Ministry of Economy in matters of liability management and debt restructuring, one of the points that the minister values most. Luis Caputo compared to the external maturities planned for next year.
At the heart of the conflict: Article 30
The meeting will focus on Article 30, which provides for the lifting of statutory funding obligations. In particular, eliminate the following:
The target of 6% of GDP for education set in the National Education Law.
The scheme for gradually increasing scientific financing until reaching 1% of GDP in 2032, provided for in the Financing Law of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The allocation of 0.2% of the current expenditure of the education budget for technical-vocational education.
This article started receiving objections from the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and from sectors allied with the ruling party. Four of the five senators from the Federal Conviction bloc expected to vote for the budget in general but would reject Article 30. Among the radicals they also expressed their rejection Maximiliano Abad, Flavio Fama and Daniel Kronebergeraccording to parliamentary sources.
In this scenario, the outcome of each vote could depend on the level of absenteeism or abstentions, as fewer senators sit on their benches and the number of votes needed to approve each article decreases.
The governing party has a solid basis for voting in general. LLA has 21 senators between their own and direct allies, plus the support of radicalists, the PRO, provincial blocs and legislators allied with governors. According to the ruling party’s calculations, the project could reach or exceed 45 votes, well above the required 37.
Federal conviction brings together five senators: Fernando Salino (San Luis), Carolina Moisés (Jujuy), Guillermo Andrada (Catamarca), Sandra Mendoza (Tucumán) and Fernando Rejal (La Rioja). Of this group, only Rejal takes a position of total rejection, similar to Governor Ricardo Quintela.
Another unknown is the behavior of the Civic Front of Santiago del Estero, consisting of Gerardo Zamora and Elijah Esther Moreno. As for the deputies, the deputies responding to the former governor of Santiago alternated with negative votes and strategic absences, a behavior that could be repeated to facilitate the process without explicitly supporting the most controversial articles.
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Universities, science and technical schools: what will change in 2026
The point deletes the current legally guaranteed funding targets for education and science and redefines the resource distribution scheme for national universities, research and technical training from next year.
In the case of universities, the most important change is the Repeal of the legal objective that stipulates that the state must make allocations 6% of GDP for educationa parameter that serves as a benchmark for the entire system. With its abolition, university funding is tied solely to annual executive branch decision and budget execution, with no legal obligation to support the predictability of spending on salaries, operations, scholarships, and academic programs.
Something similar happens with the scientific system. Article 30 annuls the Law on Financing the National System of Science, Technology and Innovationwhich follows a path of progressive growth of public investment until the achievement of the 1% of GDP in 2032. If approved, this regulation will disappear and the state will no longer be obliged to gradually increase the resources allocated to organizations such as Conicet, technological institutes and strategic research projects.
Technical and vocational education is also affected by regulatory cuts. The article cancels the specific assignment of 0.2% the current expenditure of the education budget for technical schools and vocational training, an important fund for the maintenance of workshops, equipment and infrastructure, which require constant investments.
Kicillof questioned the impact of the exchange rate delay on tourism and called for “standing before the government.”
The ruling party is ruling out changes. Any change would result in the project having to be returned to the House of Commons, where sessions for this scenario are already scheduled for December 29th and 30th – and finally January 5th. For this reason, One of the strategies evaluated is to vote on the “closed budget”. or advance chapter by chapter, a modality already used in “Deputies” but which risks dropping entire articles, including those related to the education system.
On the other hand, the idea of reinstating fragments of the deleted Chapter XI, which contained the repeal of the disability emergency and university funding and concentrated opposition opposition in the House of Commons, was ruled out.
They assure this from the ruling party The budget will be approved this Friday and they hope to support Article 30 with the help of sectors of Peronism linked to the governors. From the opposition, however, they warn that the debate about education, science and technical training will have greater visibility than in the House of Representatives and could change the final result.
This time the government is betting on the so-called “law of laws” to be sanctioned because, apart from the fact that items must be readjusted due to the repeal of the university funding and disability laws decided by Congress, its sanction would represent a sign of confidence in the markets and in the demands of the International Monetary Fund.
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