Rep. Lee Chae-myeong: "Gyeonggi Province's 7 Trillion Won Debt Requires Careful Review of Repayment Plan"

Rep. Lee Chae-myeong (Democratic Party, Anyang District 6), chair of the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education Budget and Settlement Special Committee at the Gyeonggi Province Assembly, emphasized regarding the recently controversial 7 trillion won debt of Gyeonggi Province: "We should not just look at the figure of 7 trillion won, but carefully examine what types of debt it contains, how much of each, and when and how it will be repaid."

Rep. Lee made these remarks as a panelist at the 'Gyeonggi Province Financial Diagnosis and Improvement Tasks Policy Forum' held on the 20th in the main conference hall of the Gyeonggi Province Assembly.

Rep. Lee stated, "Even 7 trillion won contains debts of completely different natures," and proposed: "The assembly should obtain and carefully review the 'fund flow statement' showing where this money came from and where it was spent, and the 'integrated repayment schedule' that outlines when and how it will be repaid."

Rep. Lee also presented five tasks the assembly should undertake: △Restoring the connection between evaluation and budget △Examining local bonds and fund borrowing by nature △Confirming all mandatory expenditures underrepresented in budgets △Checking adherence to regulatory standards for appropriations and balance in the financial stabilization account's deposits and withdrawals △Establishing a joint financial diagnosis table and integrated financial information platform where the executive branch and assembly discuss using the same figures.

Regarding budget reduction methods, he stated, "We should not immediately cut budgets simply because the target population is small," and requested, "Let us establish a principle to separately protect support for vulnerable groups including people with disabilities, children, and the elderly, as well as budgets for safety and disaster response."

Rep. Lee emphasized, "The financial soundness task force should be a task force to revitalize finances, not merely reduce them."

He declared, "Neither indiscriminate cuts nor continued borrowing are answers. Since Gyeonggi Province collects substantial taxes yet remains excluded from government support due to structural problems that cannot be solved through frugality alone, I will secure objective data and request institutional improvements from the government and National Assembly. We will boldly adjust expenditures with low returns while absolutely protecting residents' safety, welfare, and children's education."

As chair of the Office of Education Budget and Settlement Special Committee, he also proposed four education finance-related measures: △Accurate calculation and timely transfer of legally mandated appropriations △Conducting 'education finance impact analysis' before reduced supplementary budgets and restructuring △Joint response by the province, Office of Education, and assembly regarding reforms to the local education finance distribution system △Monitoring the stability of non-mandatory appropriations.

Rep. Lee noted, "If the province reduces spending by 1 billion won and the Office of Education and municipal governments absorb the same amount, it is not a savings for Gyeonggi Province overall," and stated, "We must block the structure where decreases in provincial taxes lead to reduced legally mandated appropriations, which then transfers the burden to school sites."

Meanwhile, the forum was hosted by the 'Gyeonggi Province Financial Soundness Task Force,' launched on July 28th by the Democratic Party faction of the Gyeonggi Province Assembly to identify improvement tasks and seek alternatives at the assembly level for securing sustainable financial soundness.