As a second round of strikes unfold in the province, Buenos Aires Vice Governor Gabriel Mariotto has stated that a draft bill proposed by Governor Daniel Scioli is “unnecessary” because the province already has similar legislation in place.

Scioli called for the provincial legislature to consider a bill that would bring provincial legislation in line with the national Emergency Law, Law 25.561. This law, which has been in place for ten years, allows the executive to make certain decisions directly during times of economic crisis. The governor’s Chief of Staff Alberto Pérez sent the proposed bill to the provincial legislature yesterday.

The national Emergency Law was passed in 2002 under former president Eduardo Duhalde, and has been renewed twice since, most recently in 2011. Scioli’s administration had hoped to use the Emergency Law as a pathway out of the financial crisis plaguing the province.

Writing to Pérez, Mariotto stated that the provincial government was already in compliance with Law 25.561, and had been for ten years, since the province passed Law 12.858 in February 2002. This provincial law is renewed along with the national law, which is currently valid through the end of 2013.

Mariotto’s letter was published this morning in Página/12. The relationship between the provincial governor and his vice governor is known to be strained.

In an interview this morning, Governor Scioli responded that the Law 12.858 “could be in force” and called for a report from provincial lawyers to determine whether the present legislation would be sufficient.

The law that Mariotto referenced – provincial Law 12.858 – does not bring the province into full compliance with the national law. Instead, it applies articles 8, 9, and 10 of the Law 25.561. These articles offer three courses of action for the government in times of economic emergency: all public contracts can be converted from dollars to pesos, the executive has the power to renegotiate relevant contracts, and the executive can order companies providing public services to continue with their contractual obligations.

Today is day two of the second round of protests in the province. State workers from a variety of sectors – including teachers, court officials, and public health workers – have organized a series of demonstrations against the decision to pay this period’s bi-annual bonuses in installments.

The Buenos Aires Supreme Court and the Legislature have both refused to recognize Scioli’s order to pay out the bi-annual bonuses in installments. Both bodies have ordered the full payment of their employees’ bi-annual bonuses this coming Monday.

Yesterday, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner stated that the Province of Buenos Aires is “privileged” amongst the provinces and has received $4 billion pesos from the federal government since 2003. Although she did not mention the Governor Scioli by name, she emphasized the importance of responsible administration of funds and alluded to the provincial leader.

In this morning’s interview with C5N, Scioli simply stated, “we have always recognized the importance of national investment in the province” and confirmed the figures presented by President Fernández.

The governor also said that the provincial government is attempting to pay the bi-annual bonuses ahead of the proposed installment schedule, and that some sectors of government workers will receive their bonuses more quickly than originally stated.