Overview
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that he will send a constitutional amendment to Congress to guarantee free public transit on Saturdays and Sundays in cities that offer collective transport.
- Preliminary estimates of the annual fiscal cost range from R$5 billion to R$12 billion with several government interlocutors centering near R$7–8 billion, though assumptions such as existing local programs make the number uncertain.
- The proposal has immediate legal and political fallout: TSE minister André Mendonça barred a Lula campaign ad that claimed Flávio Bolsonaro opposed ending the 6x1 work schedule and municipal leaders criticized the campaign for using a São Paulo city photo to illustrate the plan.
- Both campaigns are intensifying digital advertising as the runoff nears, with Lula running many low-cost ads attacking Flávio’s economic plans and Flávio buying fewer, larger ads focused on security and promises to protect Bolsa Família.
- Fiscal watchdogs and economists warn of broader risks because the IFI says the government’s 2026 benefit package has mobilized R$298.4 billion and critics say a federal PEC could clash with municipal responsibility for urban transit and strain future budgets.