First closed meeting

Styrian government wants to fix begging ban

The Styrian state government meets for its first closed meeting.

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

The first working meeting of the new blue-black state government will take place on consecrated ground on Friday and Saturday. At Seggau Castle, Governor Mario Kunasek (FPÖ) and his deputy Manuela Khom (ÖVP) will tackle hot topics such as the ban on begging, the ban on cell phones in schools and the end of the air-hundred on the highways.

Shortly before Christmas, the new Styrian state government was presented and sworn in. It presented a 130-page government program - with many headings, but naturally still with few concrete details. Since then, most journalists have been told in the government offices: "Please be patient until after the government retreat! Only then would it be possible to provide details and concrete timetables for important projects.

Well, the government retreat in Seggau Castle in southern Styria is coming up on Friday and Saturday. It is known that some lighthouse projects are to be presented there, which are now gradually leaking out. 

Ban on organized begging
For example, the cell phone ban, which is to apply in Styrian elementary school and lower grades up to third grade from the coming school year, is to be cast in a legal framework. The "harmonization of begging bans in Styria with other federal states", as stated in the program, is also fixed. Our province is the only one in which organized and commercial begging is permitted. Municipalities will also be given the opportunity to set up no-begging zones in certain places (such as train stations or in front of schools).

The end of the "fine dust 100" on the highways around Graz is also a concrete step. In an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, State Councillor for the Environment Hannes Amesbauer confirmed that the speed limit should be abolished. Transport Minister Claudia Holzer (also FPÖ) is also in line with the government. The payment card for asylum seekers is also to be fixed: Amesbauer has announced that he will follow the (restrictive) Lower Austrian model and not wait for the introduction of a nationwide payment card planned for this year.

Also no surprise: the state government will make a new attempt to get the federal government to build the third lane on the A9 south of Graz. After all, Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) stopped the project and stuck to her guns despite constant attacks from Styria.