Controversial opinions

Heated debate about the 2025 state budget

The Landhaus in Bregenz.

(Bild: Maurice Shourot)

On Wednesday morning, the finance committee discussed the draft budget of the state of Vorarlberg for the coming year. Opinions differed widely on the priorities of the black-blue government. 

For the black-blue state government, the draft budget for 2025 is a clear signal for an active location policy, whereas for the opposition it is a declaration of bankruptcy. The fact is that the investment share of 116.1 million euros is higher than ever before.

In view of the economically challenging environment, it is important to make targeted investments in the future, emphasizes VP parliamentary group leader Veronika Marte: "This is also reflected in the 2025 budget. Despite a small increase in revenue, we are investing massively in the location, and extensively at that. This concerns the economy, infrastructure and the future topic of education."

Marte cannot understand why the opposition would have liked to see significantly more impetus in the area of education in particular: "We should really concentrate on the facts here and leave the church in the village. We should also bear in mind that the number of pupils will tend to fall in the coming years due to demographics."

Debts will continue to grow
It is also a fact that the debt level will continue to increase due to record investments and is likely to be around 650 million euros by the end of 2025. "We will have to scrutinize every budget item in the future. There is no way around increasing efficiency in the administration," says VP Finance spokesperson Patrick Wiedl, announcing an austerity course for the coming years.

Criticism of tunnel spider
The opposition would, of course, know where to make savings right now - namely in the controversial tunnel spider project in Feldkirch: "With the 160 million that the tunnel spider will swallow up in the next three years alone, we could build 1,000 affordable non-profit apartments, secure care or promote energy autonomy," calculates Daniel Zadra, head of the Green Party parliamentary group.

His verdict on the draft is devastating: "Overall, the black-blue budget is a declaration of bankruptcy for the future." The Neos and SPÖ were of a similar opinion, which is why the draft budget was only passed in the Finance Committee with the votes of the ÖVP and FPÖ.