The debate on the public funding of political parties brings to mind the words that Schumpeter wrote in 1918"The spirit of a people, its cultural level, the configuration of its social structure, businesses that his policy can prepare, all that, and much more is written in his tax history without false rhetoricAnd". The brief fiscal history of public financing of Italian parties is a good example.
We know that, running in the year 1993 and approaching the political elections held in March 1994, the political parties had to face the problem of their financing from the public budget which the previous referendum had abolished.
To meet that need with law of 10 December 1993 no. 515 (GU n. 292 Suppl. Ord. of 14/12/1993) was approved (art. 9 comm1 1 and 2) the “Contribution to electoral expenses”, which was regulated as follows: “The contribution is paid by dividing among those entitled to two funds relating, respectively, to electoral expenses for the renewal of the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. The amount of each of the two funds is equal, on the occasion of the first political elections to be held in application of the present law, to half of the sum resulting from the multiplication of the amount of 1.600 lire by the number of inhabitants of the Republic as resulting from the last general census". Although disguised under another term, it was a one-off contribution and not a loan extended over the years.
For those who, like the writer, favorably evaluate the (albeit moderate) public funding of parties (if anything associated with private funding that guarantees transparency) the commitment at the time from the state budget did not appear particularly high. The law at the time in fact provided for a burden of approximately 61 billion lire (equal to approximately 30 million euros) equally divided between the Chamber and the Senate. We should also evaluate the wisdom of the legislator who preferred the lump-sum reimbursement method over that of the list footer which would have favored (given the payer) the flourishing business of producing false invoices. Whoever proposes to adopt the reimbursement of documented expenses today must reflect on the risks of a new incentive for malfeasance.
A few years later, in 1999, the new law 3 June 1999 n.157 it entailed not only the doubling of the funds to be fed from the state budget (from two, House and Senate, to four, House, Senate, European Parliament, regional elections), but also the doubling of the amount of the contribution from 1.600 lire to 4.000 lire. As provided for in paragraph 5 of the law then issued: "The amount of each of the four funds relating to the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 is equal to the sum resulting from the multiplication of the amount of 4.000 lire by the number of citizens of the Republic registered in the electoral lists for the elections of the Chamber of Deputies". In any case, the financing remained a one-off type. The charges deriving from the new law amounting to 208 billion lire for 1999, 198 billion lire for 2000 and 257 billion lire per year starting from 2001, were provided for by means of the resources deriving from the abolition of the expenditure authorizations referred to in the laws 18 November 1981, no. 659, 10 December 1993, n. 515, 23 February 1995, no. 43, and January 2, 1997
Then, with law 26 July 2002, n. 156 "Provisions on electoral reimbursements" published in the Official Gazette no. 176 of 29 July 2002 further innovated with the following amendment: to the law 3 June 1999, n. 157, the following modifications are made: in article 1, paragraph 5, after the words: «it is equal» the following are inserted: «for each year of the legislature of the bodies themselves,» and the words: «4.000 lire» are replaced by the following: «euro 1,00».
Thus done, what previously constituted a flat-rate reimbursement of electoral expenses became a long-lasting loan with no relation to electoral expenses. as demonstrated by the publicly disclosed ratios between electoral expenses (about 600 million euros) and the amount of transfers to political parties (about 2,5 billion euros). And so the political parties lost their honor in the eyes of the voters.
In fact, as regulated in the new paragraph 5 of law 157 (still in force today) “The amount of each of the four funds relating to the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 is equal, for each year of term of the bodies themselves, to the sum resulting from the multiplication of the amount of euro 1,00 by the number of citizens of the Republic registered in the electoral lists for the elections to the Chamber of Deputies.
That's all. To regain the honor of the political parties it is therefore sufficient to eliminate eight words from the current law (1999/157) with the following amendment to be presented in the first provision that the parliament deems useful: in paragraph 5 of art. 9 of law 3 June 1999, n.157 (and subsequent amendments) suppress the words "for each year of the legislature of the bodies themselves".
It used to be said "Let's go back to the Statute": it is the title of an article published on 1 January 1897 in the Nuova Antologia magazine signed by the deputy of the historic Right Sidney Sonnino who with this writing denounced the inefficiency of the institutions and the mutual interference of the powers between government and parliament. Today, more modestly, to recover the honor of the parties (and perhaps some voters) it is sufficient to return to the principles of the ordinary law of 1993, issued not by the King of Italy but by the Italian Parliament. Our country's fiscal history would also improve in the eyes of the world.
