Tourist voucher also for pensioners?

Senators want the 500-zloty tourist voucher to be given to pensioners.

Senators have submitted further amendments to the presidential tourist voucher act, thus it will go back to the senate committees. Senators want, among others, to cover retirees and pensioners, not just children, with a 500-zloty voucher. The act would also cover children of parents who work abroad.

On Wednesday, the Senate held a debate on the presidential tourist voucher act. The goal is to support Polish families and the tourism industry, which suffered particularly from coronavirus.

The new regulations provide for a voucher in the amount of PLN 500 for persons receiving parental benefit 500 plus and for children placed in family or institutional foster care. In the case of disabled children, the benefit will be twice as high and amount to PLN 1,000. The voucher will not be in cash, but electronic and will be used to finance stays, hotel services or tourist events in the country.

The voucher can be used in Poland to pay for, among others: staying at a hotel, guest house, agritourism farm or a colony or scout camp, as well as a sports or recreation camp. The voucher is intended to cover tourist events carried out by a tourist entrepreneur or a public benefit organization.

The bill was previously considered by two Senate committees; families and the economy. The family commission proposed to introduce over 50 amendments to the Act, which were proposed by Senate legislators. Doubts about compliance with the constitution and European law were raised by several articles of the Act. The biggest reservations were raised about the Act on counteracting COVID-19 and the inclusion in the content of the Act on the tourist voucher of provisions regarding the transfer of support to local governments, which was not in the preparation prepared by the president.

Questions were also raised about the issue of notification of regulations to the European Commission. According to Paweł Mucha, the deputy head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, appearing on behalf of the president, these provisions have already been pre-notified and talks with the EC are underway.

The economic committee, in turn, requested that the Senate adopt the bill without amendments. During both committees, KO senators also proposed minority proposals.

Senate Deputy Marshal Maria Koc (PiS) emphasized on Wednesday that the act would cause the tourist voucher to reach 6.5 million Polish children. The value of the aid will reach PLN 3.5 billion. The senator noted that the voucher could be paid repeatedly until March 31, 2022.

The deputy marshal added that the money from the voucher will go to tourist entrepreneurs and public benefit organizations that will report to the Polish Tourist Organization. During the work on the Act, a higher demand of the KO arose in the upper house of parliament for carriers, cultural institutions such as museums and educational institutions to benefit from these funds. An amendment in this matter was submitted by KO senators, who argued that vouchers should also be able to account for vouchers that do not offer accommodation, for example. They criticized the solution that only entrepreneurs who register with POT would benefit from the voucher.

However, the blanket pointed out that the money from the voucher would also go to carriers, because it would be used to finance combined services (e.g. overnight with transit). The Chancellery of the President was also in favor of this solution.

Minority rapporteurs Artur Dunin and Adam Szejnfeld (both from KO) demanded that the tourist voucher be extended to children, including seniors – pensioners. Szejnfeld pointed out that originally the government announced that a larger group of beneficiaries would be covered by such support – not only children. He admitted, however, that if this postulate were to be implemented, the act would have to be rewritten. Therefore, as he continued, the voucher should be extended to seniors, who often do not have money for a holiday. An appropriate amendment was also tabled in this case.

The blanket replied that countries could not afford to cover all Poles with such a voucher. She pointed out that pensioners’ benefits were not limited by the coronavirus, and that for many parents did. Therefore, as she said, he is directed to this social group. Koc also emphasized that entrepreneurs from the tourism industry can use other assistance programs, primarily the anti-crisis and financial shield.

The deputy marshal also submitted an amendment which, she explained, would extend the group of vouchers beneficiaries by 150-200 thousand. children. She explained that it was about the children of parents who work abroad in the EU and are excluded from 500 plus.

The KO senators have also submitted amendments to reduce from 1% up to 0.5 percent the amount of funds that will flow to ZUS for servicing the tourist voucher. They also want not to exclude the Polish Tourist Organization and the Social Insurance Institution from the Public Procurement Law regime during tasks related to the creation of the system and the implementation of the voucher.

Minister Paweł Mucha pointed out to senators that if the Act passed by the Sejm were not amended and passed on to the President’s signature, the funds could be launched in July. He noted that the bill was widely consulted, and according to estimates 85% the funds will go to micro and small entrepreneurs.

Deputy Minister of Development Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, who was participating in the debate, when asked by senators when the voucher could actually be used, assessed that an appropriate system in this matter should be launched within about 3-4 weeks.

– In our opinion, about 3-4 weeks is the time when the relevant institutions will be able to start the implementation of this voucher – he said. He reserved, however, that the ministry could not give “hard and specific dates”. – The act provides for such a formula that the competent minister will announce the functioning of the given system – he added.

When asked about the coronavirus support to the tourism industry, the deputy minister informed that PLN 4 billion has so far been sent to her under the financial shield. He assured that the development ministry is working on further support mechanisms for tourism.

INTERIA.PL business on Twitter. Join us and read economic information

–