State budget 2025

Call to order and budget discussions in the state parliament

The 20th session of the Carinthian state parliament will take place on Thursday.

(Bild: Steiner Clara Milena)

No question time and even the topical hour on the topic of "The importance of a strong opposition for Carinthia" is overshadowed by the first item on the agenda - despite a brief exchange of blows and a call to order: Finance Officer Gaby Schaunig (SPÖ) presents the state budget for 2025.

Thursday, 9.03 a.m.: Reinhart Rohr, First President of Parliament, asks the MPs to sit down - no one reacts, they continue to chat, greet each other and joke. "It's like being at school," remarks a pupil from the HLW Wolfsberg in the public gallery.

Then it starts: at the request of Team Kärnten (TK), the topic of the current hour is "The importance of a strong opposition for Carinthia". An opposition has "the duty to criticize sharply, but must never use abusive language", begins TK leader Gerhard Köfer.

FPÖ party leader Erwin Angerer also speaks up: "It's about democracy. And democracy is always worth discussing." He then takes a shot at the state government, while ÖVP parliamentary group leader Markus Malle defends the governing parties. Josef Ofner, deputy leader of the FPÖ, was called to order - he shouted "He doesn't turn red when he lies because he's a black man" in Malle's direction.

Provincial budget "for the well-being of society as a whole"
Finance Officer Gaby Schaunig (SPÖ) explains how a provincial budget works: If the budget becomes tight, it must be distributed particularly efficiently - but not "in the sense of the business economist who keeps an eye on his company's results and adjusts the relevant parameters in order to react to falls in demand or increases in costs". The public sector has a duty and is responsible "for the well-being of society as a whole, not only for current generations, but also for future generations."

For example, it is not so easy to make savings in large areas where high expenditure is made. This applies above all to the areas of education, health, social affairs and infrastructure:

• Education: "Saving on education spending would be about as sensible as a miller no longer buying grain in order to reduce the expenditure burden on his mill," Schaunig draws parallels with the education sector. Expenditure in this area would result in "well-educated, curious, committed young adults who, as workers, contribute to the economic performance and innovative strength of our country". The only cut envisaged here is that the reduction in group sizes will be implemented more slowly than planned "as the original timetable in terms of staffing, construction and funding" is not working out.
• Health: The area of health expenditure has particularly high annual growth rates - but it is difficult to make savings. Schaunig: "If the state is able to ensure medical care and preventative measures, not only will the burden of illness be reduced, but also the need for care and social support."

SPÖ finance officer Gaby Schaunig presents the state budget for 2025 in parliament.

(Bild: EVELYN HRONEK)

• Social welfare: Schaunig considers it a "dangerous path" to impose "even lower income limits on those in society who have the least" or to increase "bureaucratic requirements" in times of tight budgets. 
• Infrastructure: Investments in educational institutions, research locations, traffic routes and public transport are investments in the country's assets, according to Schaunig: "They are essential to strengthen the country as a place to live and do business."

According to Schaunig, the challenges of recent years - "pandemic, inflation, economic stagnation and insufficient financial equalization" - and the reduction in the 2025 revenue share forecast by the federal government would make it difficult to draw up a budget for next year. "This means that we will have to reduce expenditure by an additional 40 million euros in 2025, unless additional revenue alleviates the situation."

We need to ensure the kind of stability that benefits everyone in the country - including those who flirt with instability, discord and lack of solidarity.

Finanzreferentin Gaby Schaunig (SPÖ)

Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta

The proposals for savings from the individual provincial departments have been collected and analyzed in recent months - not just for the coming year, but for the entire financial framework up to 2028. The focus was also on the long-suffering municipalities and their strained financial situation. "We have to ensure the kind of stability that benefits everyone in the country - including those who flirt with instability, discord and lack of solidarity," says Schaunig.

Spending cuts yes, debt reduction no
In concrete terms, this means the following for the 2025 state budget: "Incoming payments of 3.41 billion euros are offset by outgoing payments of 3.73 billion euros. This results in a net financing balance of 322.5 million euros," says Schaunig. A reduction in expenditure of 235.5 million euros is planned for 2026, 265.3 million euros in 2027 and 295.1 million euros in 2028. Debt reduction will still not succeed.

"This is primarily due to the revenue situation, over which the state unfortunately has virtually no influence." The finance officers of the federal states therefore repeated their demand to the federal government to renegotiate the financial equalization only last week. Schaunig is currently expecting a debt level of 4.44 billion euros at the end of 2025 instead of the 5 billion euros forecast in the old financial framework.

Several concrete measures are planned for next year:

• In the case of housing assistance, several support measures are to be merged and the administrative burden reduced at the same time. The same applies to photovoltaic subsidies.
• As the rents of Carinthian women's shelters are sometimes very high, it is being examined whether suitable buildings can be constructed at lower running costs.
• In the area of education and quality promotion, the focus will be on professions in short supply, such as care and child education.
• A partial release of Kabeg's reserves is planned in the area of hospitals. High costs in the procurement of nursing staff could be reduced by eliminating parallel structures.
• The major sporting events that have already been fixed are to take place, new events are not to be promoted.
• In terms of protective and regulatory structures, federal waters are to be targeted in particular, which would reduce the state's share of funding.
• There are also plans to reduce club funding by at least 10 percent: "This requires a broad party consensus," said Schaunig.

Criticism of the budget came from the opposition: "The fat years are over. You have failed to introduce reforms in the good years," said FP leader Erwin Angerer. TK chairman Gerhard: "The coalition - and I'm sorry about this - has ignored our appeals for years and has actually started too late to embark on a course of consolidation."