At its last meeting this year, the chamber of states once again passed numerous laws. On the agenda were, among other things, help for students, staff numbers for clinics and an expansion of the home office flat rate.
Gas and electricity price brake
The laws on the gas and electricity price brake approved by the Federal Council will take effect from March 2023, but should also apply retrospectively for January and February. In order to maintain incentives to save, however, they only apply to part of the consumption.
The gas price for private households is capped at twelve cents per kilowatt hour. The price cap applies to 80 percent of a household’s consumption in the previous year – this is intended to encourage consumers to save energy.
The upper limit of 40 cents per kilowatt hour applies to the electricity price – also for a so-called basic consumption of 80 percent. The current average price is around 43 cents per kilowatt hour.
Opportunity Right of Residence
Tolerated foreigners who have lived in Germany for five years are given an opportunity to stay for 18 months. Prerequisites for the grant are knowledge of German and a secure livelihood. The deadline for the regulation was October 31 of this year. If the requirements for the granting of a residence permit are not met after the 18-month period of residence, those affected should revert to the status of toleration. Criminals and people who hide their identity to avoid deportation are excluded.
Relief for students
Students and technical school students receive a one-off fee of 200 euros to compensate for the increased energy prices and living costs. The law also provides for payment to vocational students in courses with the aim of obtaining a professional qualification of at least two years.
2.95 million students and around 450,000 technical students are entitled to claim. Anyone who is enrolled at a training center in Germany on December 1, 2022 should be able to receive the energy price flat rate. The one-off payment is to be applied for via a digital platform, which the federal and state governments still have to develop.
Staffing requirements in clinics
In the future, a special key will apply to the assessment of personnel requirements in the care of hospitals. With the new regulation, ideal staffing for the stations should be calculated and enforced. From 2025, this personnel assessment should be binding. There are also improvements for the children’s hospitals, which are currently heavily overburdened.
Annual Tax Act
The home office flat rate introduced because of the corona pandemic will be extended and increased from five to six euros per day. It can also be claimed for up to 210 days (previously 120 days). The maximum amount that can be claimed for tax purposes increases to 1260 euros.
Regionalization funds for local public transport
In the current year, the federal government is already providing an additional one billion euros in funds for the maintenance and expansion of local transport. These funds are to be increased by three percent annually in the future. The federal and state governments had agreed on this at the beginning of November. The transport ministers of the federal states had made the increase a condition for the planned 49-euro ticket. It should come next spring.
European election
The voting age will be lowered to 16 for the upcoming European elections.
household
The budget, which has now also been approved by the Federal Council, is intended to comply with the debt brake in the Basic Law for the first time since 2019. Expenditure of a good 476 billion euros is planned. The new debt is 45.6 billion euros and thus at the limit of what is still permissible within the debt limit.
Next
The federal states will receive four billion euros from the federal government in 2023 and 2024 to improve the quality of daycare centers.
Sanction Enforcement Act:
Cash payments will no longer be permitted for real estate transactions.
Online Laws
Federal laws and ordinances are also to be officially announced on a digital platform in the future. So far, the constitution stipulates publication in paper form in the Federal Law Gazette.
