Law No. 12.754 amending Law No. 12.502 on the Maranhão Free from Hunger Programme, improving its objectives, benefits, conditions and competences.

The amendments introduced aim primarily to strengthen and expand the scope of the Programme, refining its objectives to more effectively reduce poverty, improve food and nutritional security, and ensure access to essential health services for the most vulnerable families. The revisions redefine the programme as a permanent, essential public policy, broaden its purpose to guarantee the mínimo existencial, and reinforce its role in fostering the well‑being and development of children aged 0 to 6 years. By updating eligibility thresholds, benefit amounts, and the nature of assistance provided, the amendments align the programme more closely with constitutional principles of human dignity and ensure a more targeted and equitable distribution of support to families. In addition, the amendments seek to improve the operational effectiveness of the program by establishing clearer rules for benefit use, expanding complementary payments for families with persons with disabilities, and creating mechanisms for income complementação whenever families remain below the extreme poverty line. The changes also introduce incentives for social and economic inclusion through a bonus for successful completion of training courses, strengthening pathways to employability and autonomy. Controls were tightened to ensure program integrity—such as prohibiting the purchase of non‑essential items—and a transition rule now allows families whose income slightly increases to maintain benefits for 12 months, reducing the risk of abrupt exclusion.