The House of Representatives has finally approved the Civil Service Act and has referred the legislation to the Council of State (Maglis El Dawla), Al Shorouk reports. The passage, many months in the making, was the Ismail government’s first significant clash with the House and saw many of the bill’s key provisions scrapped or significantly de-fanged. The first draft of the act met with loud opposition from state bureaucrats when it was announced in mid-2015, at junctures sparking street protests. That political pressure drove the House to reject the bill in its first run back in January, marking the first and most significant opposition the House has taken to a key pillar of the government’s reform agenda.

Meanwhile, the House Planning and Budget Committee has invited representatives of 54 companies and industry associations to attend a hearing today to voice their opinions on the that other crucial reform pillar, the value-added tax (VAT), Al Borsa reports. The (big) business community’s primary objection to the measure so far centers on the EGP 500K mandatory minimum to register for the tax, and some believe the baseline tax rate of 14% is too high. This rate may be changed following the hearing as the house debates the measure, said Rep. Hisham Abdel Wahed, a member of the committee.

The House also approved yesterday a 10% increase to military pensions retroactive to 1 July 2016; the minimum monthly pension hike will amount to EGP 125, Al Shorouk reported.