A lot of money is currently at stake for a new kindergarten law, maybe even for a free lunch. But it is also about quick financial aid in the energy crisis. The Greens have staked out their position on this.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - The Greens consider the financing of a free lunch for their offspring in the Thuringian kindergartens and schools to be hardly affordable. On Wednesday in Erfurt, her parliamentary group leader Astrid Rothe-Beinlich named an amount in the hundreds of millions that would be needed annually. "We have to think about what we spend money on in times of limited funds," said Rothe-Beinlich. "I don't see that we're going to get that financed." She was reacting to a decision by the SPD party conference last weekend in Suhl.
During a two-day retreat, the Greens, who have been co-governing in Thuringia since 2014, defined their positions for further deliberations on the 2023 state budget. They also dealt with how Thuringia can provide quick help for citizens and the economy in the energy crisis.
According to Rothe-Beinlich, the red-red-green coalition is planning to present a new kindergarten and school law to the state parliament in November. In the kindergartens, the Green parliamentary group primarily relies on better quality of care through more staff. You see yourself confirmed by a representative survey, said Rothe-Beinlich. "Quality must come first."
In addition, there is currently a debate about the preservation of the language day-care centers, which only received money from the federal government for a transitional period. If the project is to be continued in Thuringia, an annual amount of around 4.5 million euros is required.
The new day-care center law should bring a better care key for children aged 3 to 6 years and another non-contributory day-care year, probably from summer 2024. There are currently two non-contributory kindergarten years in Thuringia. A center for early childhood education is also planned. Rothe-Beinlich puts the additional costs of the improvements at around 30 million euros in 2024 and 70 million euros in the following years.
The parliamentary group leader also took the view that the 60 million euros discussed so far for Thuringian aid in the energy crisis will not be sufficient. An amount of 200 million euros mentioned by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) on Tuesday is more conceivable, but the financing has to be clarified. Ultimately, there are only two options for this: Thuringia gets even more money from its reserves or takes on new debts, as in the Corona pandemic. According to Rothe-Beinlich, she considers new loans to be conceivable in the current situation. "Saving against the crisis is the wrong way."
The leader of the parliamentary group now expects numbers from the minister about what additional money is needed, for example for warm schools and kindergartens, for deer clinics or sports halls. "We need the price tags for individual areas."
The background is a proposal by the red-red-green coalition to expand the purpose of the Thuringian Corona Fund to help for citizens and the economy in the energy crisis. According to various sources, between 60 and 70 million euros are still available in the fund. Left, SPD and Greens are dependent on the support of the opposition CDU parliamentary group, which has proposed an amount of 250 to 400 million euros for energy aid. The governing coalition lacks four votes for its own majority in the state parliament.
