Cap of 1.3% on cantonal staff moves toward a popular vote

The Committee on Administration and Finance of the Gran Consiglio has resumed its work after the summer break, a period marked by political instability and the resignation of government councillor Claudio Zali. Among the files back on the table at Palazzo delle Orsoline is the popular initiative of the Swiss People's Party (UDC), which calls for a cap on the number of cantonal employees equal to 1.3% of the resident population.

If applied today, the rule would mean a reduction of about 580 positions, or 10% of the total workforce. The favourable report on the initiative has already been submitted. The rapporteur, UDC group leader Alain Bühler, explains that it is now up to the other parties on the committee to take a position and, if they wish, to draft their own reports.

A vote during the election campaign

The UDC's goal is to bring the matter before the Gran Consiglio by November, in order to respect at least in part the deadlines set by the cantonal Constitution, which requires that an initiative be put to a popular vote within two years. Speaking to Il Quotidiano, Bühler says the aim is to bring the text to the ballot by the end of February. That date would coincide with the campaign for the 2027 cantonal elections.

Asked about the overlap, Bühler says there is no ideal democratic moment to debate an initiative, and that the debate must in any case follow the timeline set by the cantonal Constitution, whether before or after the elections. He acknowledges that by then the constitutional deadlines would already have been missed, but confirms that date for the vote.

Before reaching the full parliament, the text must go through committee once more. Committee members have drawn up a series of questions on how the initiative would be applied in practice, which the cantonal government must answer. The committee's vice-president, Michele Guerra, says the matter will be taken up again next Tuesday, pending the government's answers. He notes that the questions raised are fairly complex, given how sensitive the topic is, and that the file will go to parliament only once all the necessary answers are in.

The question of how many public employees the canton should have has a direct bearing on state finances: a cut of 580 positions raises questions about which tasks and services the canton would have to reorganise to absorb a reduction of this size, and what effect this would have on current cantonal spending.

At the same meeting, the committee gave the green light to a second report, signed by socialist Fabrizio Sirica, providing for a direct contribution of one million francs to the Federal Gymnastics Festival. The event will be held in Ticino in 2031, for the first time in almost two centuries.