President Javier Milei vetoed a bill declaring a state of emergency and catastrophe in Bahía Blanca after the city suffered severe rains and a flood that left a toll of 18 victims. The law also sought to provide fiscal relief to survivors and for city reconstruction.

The decree issued by the president argued that the entire norm was “unnecessary” given the national government had already created an assistance fund for Bahía Blanca within what they called a context of “budget tightness.”

Congress approved the vetoed law on June 4. It declared an emergency situation in Bahía Blanca and the adjacent city of Coronel Rosales for 180 days, while also ordering the creation of an AR$200 million (US$168,776,371) special fund to assess the damages within 30 days.

It also established granting grace periods on contract payments for those who suffered damages, as well as special loans through public bank Banco Nación and tax exemptions for those affected.

The administration’s arguments

The presidential decree vetoed the law on the grounds that it did not specify where the resources for the fund should come from. It went on to say that financial aid was “unnecessary” in light of the national government’s reconstruction and assistance fund, destined to pay subsidies to the affected residents. 

The payment of these subsidies is in its “final stages.”

The security ministry, which is in charge of carrying out that fund, considered the entire law should be overturned because “it is destined to aid the same beneficiaries” as the government’s fund. However, the government’s fund doesn’t include Coronel Rosales. As said in the decree, it was “impossible” to do so because it was not included in the affected area by the National Meteorological Service.

According to the decree, over 32,000 people have already received the subsidy, and almost 4,000 are under analysis.

This is the third time Milei has used his veto power. The first two were in 2024, when he vetoed laws granting a funding increase for public universities and a pension raise.

The Bahía Blanca floods

On March 7, the coastal city of Bahía Blanca and adjacent towns in Buenos Aires province were hit by severe storms. Around 290 millimeters poured down in 12 hours, the same amount that usually pours in a period of six months in the area.

The consequences were devastating. Eighteen people — including two sisters, aged 1 and 5, who were found months after the storms — died as a result of the flood. Many people saw their houses neck-deep under water and lost everything. There was extensive structural damage to the city.

Aside from the national government’s aid, Bahía Blanca also received help from the Buenos Aires province, which took to reconstructing the structural damages. All in all, it is expected to be a long way to full recovery for Bahía Blanca, which had also suffered from severe thunderstorms in December 2023, leading to 13 deaths.