Milei vetoes state university funding bill, escalating conflict with education sector

President Javier Milei has vetoed a law to boost funding for public universities and increase salaries for teaching and non-teaching staff, setting up a fresh confrontation with the opposition and education unions.

Decree 647/2025, published Wednesday in the Official Gazette, overturns legislation approved by Congress on August 21. 

The Chamber of Deputies had backed the bill with 158 votes in favour but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto. 

A special session is planned for September 17, when the opposition will decide whether to mount a challenge.

The bill, promoted by the opposition, sought to guarantee financing for public universities across Argentina, ensure collective bargaining to improve pay, update operating budgets for universities and hospitals, and expand grants and academic programmes. 

Milei rejected it on the grounds that it would jeopardise the fiscal surplus and increase spending without identifying clear funding sources.

University unions have already staged strikes and street blockades in protest and have vowed that more will follow.

Milei already vetoed a bill seeking to increase university funding last year and later secured enough votes in the Chamber of Deputies to uphold that decision.

Opposition blocs are also weighing whether to press ahead with further debate, as tensions mount following Milei’s defeat in Buenos Aires Province elections and corruption allegations involving Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, the President’s sister.

The government has also signalled that vetoes are expected against two other measures passed in the same session: automatic transfers of National Treasury Contributions (ATN) to provincial governors and a paediatric emergency declaration. 

Milei has until September 11 to formalise those rejections.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL