This article analyzes how State-by-State representation in the Brazilian National Congress processes and negotiates amendments to the Federal budget within the Joint Budget Committee. Amendments submitted from 1995 to 1999 by members of Congress from three selected States (Bahia, Ceará, and Paraná) are analyzed. Several hypotheses concerning the role of amendments are investigated, arguing that the amendments, like certain Federal policies, facilitate the accommodation of tensions arising in a Federative system marked by regional inequalities.
federalism; fiscal federalism; federal budget; budget amendments; state representation in the National Congress
