RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- A bill on social security reform presented by the Brazilian government to the Congress on Wednesday will have to undergo several rounds of voting before approval.
The bill will first be analyzed by the House of Representatives' Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) for its legality, after which a rapporteur will present a report on whether the bill is admissible and constitutional. The CCJ will then vote to approve the report.
Then the bill will be presented to the House, where a special commission will be formed to debate the merits of the reform and it may introduce amendments to the bill at this point.
Each amendment must be signed by 171 federal representatives to be included in the bill. After that, the special commission's report on the bill and the amendment will be officially published and the House will hold two rounds of voting on whether to approve it.
The reform qualifies as a constitutional amendment, and as such, it needs to be approved by a majority of three fifths of the House, which means it need the vote of 308 representatives out of 513.
The bill then proceeds to the Senate. Here, too, it needs a majority of three-fifths support.
However, both congressional houses must approve the exact same text. If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, it will return to the House for another round of voting.
