What areas do the new regional laws cover? What problems will they help to solve?
Matushkin: The agenda of the plenary sessions includes draft documents in various areas. Firstly, deputies regularly update regional legislation, bringing it into line with federal legislation. Secondly, they pay special attention to improving support for families with children, participants in special military operations and their families. These sets of measures are constantly being improved. Thirdly, we have traditionally considered a block of budgetary issues.
In these and many other areas, we work closely with the government of the Tambov region, doing everything necessary to ensure that important decisions are made promptly and as effectively as possible. Thus, at a recent extraordinary meeting, the regional parliament approved a law submitted by Governor Maxim Egorov on increasing the amount of the one-time cash payment upon conclusion of an annual (or longer) military contract for service in the Northern Military District from July 31 to December 31, 2024. Now the amount will be not 100, but 400 thousand rubles.
In the Year of the Family, the regional Duma adopted a number of laws aimed at improving the demographic situation. What new benefits have families with children received?
Matushkin: The law on social support measures for large families in the Tambov region established 18 existing and several new benefits. For example, these families now have access to a housing payment benefit of no less than 30 percent of the established payment amount. When allocating social support measures for large families, children aged 18 to 23 who are participating in SVO will now be taken into account.
The issue of demographics is also addressed in the amendment to the budget of the regional compulsory health insurance fund for 2024. The region will allocate funds to the Federal Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for the implementation of a pilot project aimed at stimulating the birth rate.
Other legislative initiatives were also considered. Together with the regional government, we are constantly working to improve the system of support measures for families with children.
What regulatory changes in the economic sphere would you see following the session?
Matushkin: We have already amended the region’s budget twice for the current fiscal year. This was due to an increase in own revenues and free revenues from the federal budget. The additional funds are used for social support for Tambov residents and other important issues, including economic development and ensuring balanced local budgets.
At the June meeting, we approved the results of the execution of the Tambov region budget for 2023. Expenditures in the social sphere amounted to 62 percent of the total. The region spent 12 billion rubles on national projects. The measures taken by the head of the region, Maxim Egorov, and the regional government to support the economic and social sphere made it possible to ensure the fulfillment of all expenditure obligations.
Members of the regional parliament have unanimously supported federal bills aimed at improving the tax system and stimulating business investment activity.
At the state level, much attention is paid to supporting youth and preserving historical memory. Were these issues discussed at the spring session of the Tambov Regional Duma?
Matushkin: Youth policy and patriotic education are certainly among the priorities. We adopted a resolution to increase the total number of regional annual scholarships (from 18 to 22) for schoolchildren, students, graduate students and students of additional educational organizations who have achieved significant success in their studies, research or social activities, sports and creativity. The measure is in demand, the number of applicants is growing from year to year.
For many years, large-scale work has been carried out in the region to perpetuate the name of the defenders of the Fatherland. The Russian Military History Society makes a great contribution to this. We have adopted a law establishing the RVIO Day in the Tambov region and it is timed to coincide with the Day of the Tambov Heroes.
