 Redirect 0.5 percent of budget and improve Tokyo's welfare services: JCP A Japanese Communist Party representative in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly pointed out that a change in the use of just 0.5 percent of tax money in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government budget will help to improve welfare services. JCP representative Yoshida Nobuo stated this in the metropolitan assembly's plenary session on June 2, the final session before the July 3 assembly election. Yoshida said that the budget should be recompiled to redirect 31 billion yen to finance five urgent requests, including a 10,000 yen monthly financial assistance subsidy to elderly people in need of nursing care, an increase in financial assistance for medical services for infants and children, and a reduction of the public school class size to a maximum of 30 students. He said that how tax renenues are distributed is the governor's political decision. Yoshida also pointed out that the new bank that the Tokyo government established with 100 billion yen has failed to achieve its objective of granting loans to small-and medium-sized businesses and is instead charging them a high interest rate of 9 percent. Yoshida said that the Tokyo government should freeze the bank assets and use the money for education and social services. - Akahata June 3, 2005 |