All 10 committee members attended the meeting, and committee chair Annely Akkermann (Reform Party) said she was satisfied with the progress made.

"We approved a comprehensive amendment prepared by the government but submitted in the name of the Finance Committee. Among other things, it allocates €200,000 to the national volleyball team in recognition of its success. We also prepared another amendment within the Finance Committee ourselves, allocating an additional €7.47 million to special care services, increasing funding for those services by 13 percent. There is already €57 million allocated for that purpose. We also reviewed a large number of other amendments, most of which we sent to the plenary session without the committee's support. That means these proposals, mostly submitted by the opposition, can still be voted on in the chamber," Akkermann said.

All amendments will be forwarded to the full Riigikogu, but to be put to a vote, a proposal must receive at least two votes in favor within the committee. Some amendments failed to meet that threshold, while others did not comply with legal requirements and will be removed from the list. The remaining proposals will still have an opportunity to advance.

"All amendments that qualify for voting will ultimately be voted on in the plenary chamber, and if they receive more support than opposition, they must be incorporated into the budget. That is why it is important that amendments which cannot legally be included in the budget are not put to a vote. For example, we cannot withhold from the Health Insurance Fund money that employees have already paid through health insurance contributions. Such an amendment would not be legal," Akkermann said.

One issue still generating debate is the Center Party's proposal to use a bank tax and progressive income tax as funding sources for its amendments.

According to Akkermann, there are currently no draft laws or calculations showing that a bank tax or progressive income tax could generate €100 million in additional state revenue.

"The Center Party refuses to say who exactly qualifies as rich in Estonia. At what salary level someone becomes rich, or what the higher tax rate should be," Akkermann said.

Review of the amendments will continue on Tuesday, while the budget's second reading is scheduled for Wednesday.

Last week, two extraordinary meetings of the Finance Committee were canceled because a quorum was not present.

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