Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof will take the national administration of President Javier Milei to the Supreme Court to demand that federal tax funding be restored to the province, he announced in a press conference on Monday afternoon.

In decrees in Monday’s Official Gazette, the executive branch cut two funds that transferred tax revenues to the provinces. These were the latest in a series of provincial funding cuts implemented by Milei after his omnibus bill reform package fell through in Congress. 

“Today, we instructed the state prosecutor of Buenos Aires Province to start judicial action in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, and as a precautionary measure, to restore the funds they took from us,” Kicillof said in a press conference.

The provincial government had exhausted the possibility to resolve the dispute through administrative measures and dialogue, he said.

He added that governors would meet on Tuesday to prepare a joint response. “Neither this decree, nor the Decree of Necessity and Urgency, which is absolutely illegal, can remain in effect,” he said. 

“It’s a situation of unprecedented severity because we are faced with a president who has decided to configure a state that deserts and abandons its most elemental duties, and not only submits the people to savage austerity, but robs the resources of the provinces.”

One of Monday’s decrees eliminates the Fund for the Fiscal Strengthening of Buenos Aires, created by former President Alberto Fernández in 2020 after Buenos Aires provincial police protested to demand better wages. The second decree established that the share of taxes funneled into the Urban Social Integration Fund, which supports the development of deprived neighborhoods, would be cut to a minimum.

Kicillof highlighted that the funds cut on Monday were included in the 2023 budget, which has been extended for 2024. They are used to pay better police salaries and buy equipment, including new patrol cars and bullet-proof vests. They also support school canteens, health centers, and prisons. 

“The fund is not for a governor or the government, it’s for the security of the people of Buenos Aires Province,” he said, to a round of applause. 

Milei’s conflict with governors

The national government has axed a range of funds destined for Argentine provinces in recent weeks, triggering a dispute with the governors. Teachers in several provinces were on strike Monday after the government refused to pay into a fund that contributes to their wages, while a fund that subsidized public transport fees has also been axed. 

The Milei administration argues these cuts are necessary to eliminate Argentina’s fiscal deficit, but they are widely interpreted as retaliatory measures against the provinces after the bill collapsed due to a lack of support in Congress, which Milei blamed on governors.

Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres (PRO) said Friday he would stop delivering oil and gas to the rest of the country unless his province receives its share of federal tax funds. All governors except Tucumán’s Osvaldo Jaldo have come out to support the demand. 

Milei called Torres’ warning a “Chavista threat” on Saturday.