Without Super RIGI but with the Hojarasca Law, Bullrich tests allies’ support in the Senate

Patricia Bullrich is trying to keep the Senate moving after the setback suffered by Super RIGI. The ruling party’s Senate leader plans to define the agenda on Tuesday for a session next Thursday, combining key government initiatives with projects backed by the opposition groups that usually cooperate with the administration.

The failed attempt to secure a committee report and turn Super RIGI into law exposed the limits of the government’s support in the upper house. Despite a push from the political leadership to restore Congress’s agenda, allied blocs are increasingly setting their own priorities as the electoral climate takes hold.

Bullrich has brought back the Hojarasca Law, an initiative promoted by Deregulation Minister Federico Sturzenegger. The bill, approved by the Chamber of Deputies in May, would repeal or amend about 70 laws that the minister considers obsolete. Allied opposition lawmakers have resisted Sturzenegger’s proposals, arguing that senators are being left to absorb the political cost of the cuts pursued by Javier Milei’s administration.

To balance the agenda, Bullrich will also accommodate provincial blocs seeking a new Biofuels Law. La Libertad Avanza and the opposition agreed on a text that combines elements from seven separate proposals. That agreement, however, does not guarantee the votes needed in the Senate. Senator José Carambia did not sign the committee report, nor did radical lawmakers Eduardo Galaretto and Silvana Schneider, or Andrea Cristina and Julieta Corroza. Other senators offered only partial support.

The draft would keep the current 7.5% biodiesel blend in diesel at first, then require it to rise to 10% one year after promulgation. Bioethanol would increase from 12% to 15% after 12 months. The proposal also sets a transition period through December 31, 2031, and gradually changes the share protected for small, non-integrated biodiesel producers through 2036.