Kan to face difficulty in passing bill to keep child allowances

TOKYO, Feb. 24 Kyodo -
The Diet began deliberations Thursday on whether to maintain the Democratic Party of Japan's benchmark policy of child allowances as Prime Minister Naoto Kan is facing a challenge to win approval for crucial budget-related legislation from opposition parties.
The main opposition Liberal Democratic Party said it will soon propose a motion in parliament to downsize the government's draft fiscal 2011 budget by jettisoning key policies of the DPJ.
The current law governing monthly child allowances will expire at the end of March, and the ruling coalition led by Kan's DPJ wants to ensure the bill for a new law will get through the divided Diet, in which the opposition camp controls the House of Councillors.
If Kan fails in his attempt, the government must reintroduce an old version of child benefits, which means municipalities would need time to make arrangements and could delay the provision of money to households.
The LDP and other opposition parties have expressed their intention to block the bill.
The government currently pays 13,000 yen a month for all children until they graduate from junior high school, normally at the age of 15. The bill would raise the amount to 20,000 yen for those aged under 3.
Joining a plenary session of the House of Representatives, Kan suggested the government may reduce the financial contributions of regional governments to the allowances amid their strident calls to that end.
Those governments have protested against bearing such burdens, pointing out that the DPJ earlier said the allowances would be funded only from state coffers.
The government wants to start dialogue on the issue with regional authorities, Kan said.
The opposition camp called on Kan to apologize to the public, given that it is almost unfeasible for the DPJ to start paying an allowance of 26,000 yen in April, as the party had pledged during the last election campaign. The prime minister dismissed the call.
The discussion comes as part of Diet debate on a record 92.41 trillion yen draft budget for fiscal 2011 starting April 1, which the government has submitted to parliament along with related bills needed to implement the budget.
Opposition parties are expected to block all of the related legislation -- including a bill that would enable the government to issue bonds to partly finance the budget -- while urging Kan to abandon the DPJ's benchmark policies or dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election.
Also Thursday, an executive meeting of the LDP approved a plan to make a counterproposal to the budget plan.
The main opposition party plans to cut the amount to 89.35 trillion yen, calling for securing 5.31 trillion yen in funds by abolishing such key DPJ policies as the monthly child allowances as well as plans for the introduction of toll-free expressways.
The LDP hopes the government will reduce new bond issuance by 1.8 trillion yen to 42.49 trillion yen in order to nurse the nation's fiscal house back to health, while spending more on public works projects and financing tax reductions for companies.
''Honestly, I don't think the DPJ will be able to accept this proposal if they are to keep their identity,'' LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki said. ''But I'm sure this is a far better draft for the public.''
Kan told reporters in the evening that he will ''take a close look'' at the counterproposal.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a Diet committee he would listen ''seriously'' to the views of the LDP and study its plan.