Financial Equalization – “This is the biggest challenge for countries”

After the conference of financial officials that took place on Thursday at the Carinthian state government office in Klagenfurt, everyone agreed on one thing: “It was nice to discuss these things in this group,” said Schaunig and her colleagues from the other federal states. : “We would like to thank you for the good cooperation,” says Wallner. And: the most important points are known, now it is about achieving financial equality in practice. The fundamental agreement was an important condition for this.

As a reminder, at the beginning of October, the federal and state governments agreed that the latter would receive an additional EUR 2.4 billion annually. Of this, 1.1 billion will go to the so-called future fund, which is intended for the areas of childcare, primary education, housing and climate and the environment. No details were known yet.

“Biggest challenge for countries”
This is important because “demographic development, childcare and care are probably the biggest challenges for states,” Wallner said: “It was clear from the start of negotiations: there needs to be more support for states and communities in these areas.”

The amounts discussed are indexed and valorized. A necessary increase for the healthcare sector – especially for outpatient clinics – is planned, and the healthcare fund must be continued. Schleritzko, who is also the State Councilor for State Hospitals, said: “The additional resources should be used primarily for the ongoing operation of the hospital’s outpatient clinic, in order to ensure continuous, high-quality and comprehensive healthcare.”

This also requires a corresponding commitment from the federal government, says Schaunig: “We also need more practicing physicians to reduce the burden on outpatient clinics” – and a redesign of the admission requirements for medical studies.

“Realistic, appropriate and proportionate objectives”
What is still missing is the legal framework. “The foundation has been laid, but the house is not yet ready for occupancy: the final agreement obviously requires agreement on the legal texts,” says Schleritzko and underlines what the federal states attach particular importance to: “The objectives of the future fund must be realistic, are appropriate and proportionate “so that we as federal states can achieve these goals.”

According to Schaunig, the states want to achieve these goals with “a good federal distribution and with the commitment of the federal government.” Once the goals have been achieved, the financial resources must be able to be used flexibly, for example in other areas, depending on demand. And: there should be no withdrawal of federal funds.

Key change, yes or no?
It is not yet 100 percent clear to what extent the distribution key will be changed. The only thing that is certain is that a new distribution key will be introduced at the end of the current period – i.e. from 2028. Wallner states that in the particularly dynamic areas of health care, care and childcare, we are not dealing with start-up financing, but with ongoing costs. “That should be transferred to the revenue shares.”

With the right valorization, this would mean a shift of two percent to the states, says Wallner. The Economic Research Institute (WIFO) has been commissioned to conduct an ongoing evaluation. A very important part is “that the additional resources that are now flowing to the states are finally reflected in a changed distribution key,” says Schaunig.

There is no denying that these areas “will be included in the main amendment without negotiation and automatically. We will ensure that this also finds its way into legal formulations.”