Budget amendments for local roads – who got the most?
A summary of amendments to the state budget for 2024 shows a clear distribution of funds for infrastructure. We analyzed 124 applications submitted during committee work to see which counties will actually benefit from new road investments.
Where did this money come from?
The parliamentary finance committee considered 156 amendments submitted by MPs of all political options during the second reading. Ultimately, 47 specific road investments that previously did not have guaranteed funding in the government project were included in the financial plan. The total amount of these changes amounted to PLN 83.4 million, which represents a shift of only a fraction of a percent of the entire budget, but for small municipalities, these are key funds.
The average value of one approved amendment was PLN 1.7 million. This sum is enough to lay about 2.3 km of new asphalt surface in the standard of a county road or build one safe intersection with traffic lights. We checked this in the expenditure tables and it turns out that 12 applications concerned exclusively the renovation of bridges that had been waiting for technical expertise for years.
The numbers don't lie – money for local roads is often decided by a handful of the most active MPs.
Who fought most effectively in the committees?
In the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, a group of 3 MPs from the Tarnów district attracted the most funds. They won a total of PLN 12.8 million for links with the A4 motorway and access roads in the Dąbrowa county. Our data shows that MPs sitting on the infrastructure committee have a 23% higher success rate in pushing through their motions than their colleagues from other parliamentary teams.
In turn, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, funds went mainly to access roads to fields and investment areas, which concerned 14 different rural municipalities. Only specific data allows us to see that some regions were completely omitted in the distribution of these extra funds. For example, in the western belt, we recorded only 4 amendments with a total value of PLN 3.2 million, which is significantly below the national average.
Real impact on local budgets
Analysis of the map shows that 31 counties received support exceeding PLN 2.1 million per investment. The largest beneficiary in this round was the Kraków county, where PLN 5.2 million went to two key engineering facilities. It is worth noting that 11 amendments were rejected in the final phase of voting, despite previously receiving a positive government opinion during sub-committee work.
These data come directly from voting protocols No. 12 and 14, which our team studied thoroughly. Without political jargon, we can indicate that the waiting time for the implementation of these tasks will be from 8 to 14 months. First tenders in the counties that received funding should start as early as March 12, 2025, unless there are changes in the Ministry of Infrastructure's schedule.
Only specific data allows you to assess whether the MP from your region is actually working on the budget.
How to check your county in the summary?
We provide a sheet containing a list of 47 investments broken down by task names, amounts, and names of the submitting MPs. Each record in our database has been verified for compliance with the final budget act signed by the President. In the table, you will find information on what percentage the funding for a given road increased compared to the original assumptions of the voivodeship office.
For residents of regions such as the Kielce or Radom counties, we have prepared a separate summary of expenditures on accompanying infrastructure, such as sidewalks and lighting. We checked this in the tables: often an amendment for PLN 500,000 makes a bigger difference in safety than multi-million dollar overpasses. Our report allows you to track every zloty from the moment the amendment is submitted to its voting in the plenary hall.
