The Chamber of Deputies declared the constitutionality of the so-called Plan B of the electoral reform promoted by the government of Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday, after the initiative was approved by the majority of state congresses. Once that procedure was completed, the reform will be sent to the Executive for its promulgation and subsequent publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation. The project will be sent to the Senate for its final declaration and subsequent publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation. During the session, the Mesa Directiva of San Lázaro informed the Plenary that the reform received the backing of the legislatures of Veracruz, Puebla, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Baja California, and the State of Mexico, among other entities that gave their approval in recent days. Sheinbaum's Plan B wins support from state congresses and is one step from coming into force. To that list were also added the local congresses of Guerrero, Campeche, Yucatán, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Colima, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Baja California Sur, and Mexico City, with which the constitutional threshold necessary to validate the reform was surpassed. Plan B had been approved last week in San Lázaro with a qualified majority. The next step will be the approval of the Senate, which must carry out its own formal declaration. Laura Itzel Castillo, president of the Senate, announced that the declaration of Plan B will be discussed in the plenary next Wednesday. On that occasion, the ruling bloc gathered 377 votes in favor against 102 against, with the support of Morena, the Green Party, the PT, and Citizen Movement, while the PAN and PRI voted against. PT voted for Sheinbaum's Plan B, but tensions with Morena persist. The initiative arose as a trimmed-down version of the original electoral reform presented by Sheinbaum, which failed to gather the necessary votes in Congress. With that requirement met, the Chamber of Deputies issued the declaration of constitutionality. Unlike that more ambitious proposal, this package introduces specific amendments to the Constitution, mainly focused on reducing political spending and operational adjustments. The approved document amends articles 115 and 116 and adds a paragraph to 134 of the Constitution, and includes the prohibition of re-election for elected offices and nepotism in public institutions, reduces resources destined for state congresses and the Senate. During the morning press conference on April 10, the president announced the approval of Plan B in the state congresses. In addition, it eliminates golden pensions and cuts salaries, bonuses, and medical expense insurance for councilors and electoral magistrates. At the same time, it sets a cap of up to 15 aldermanships in city halls and establishes a limit of 0.7% of the state budget for the operation of local congresses. Since it is a constitutional reform, the project had to be approved by at least 17 state congresses.
