BRASILIA (Reuters) – Legislation aimed at reducing the size of the Brazilian state and trimming the growth of public payrolls cleared the committee stage in the lower chamber of Congress on Thursday in a significant advance for the government’s reform agenda.

Opposition objections aside, the bill amends Brazil’s constitution to remove guarantees for public servants and toughen performance criteria. The amendment also allows temporary staff to be contracted for as long as 10 years.

It is constitutionally amended and will need three-fifths vote in the plenary (308 out of 513 members), but lawmakers believe it can get the support it needs due to the heavy burden on the government’s budget deficit.

Special congressional committee approved the main text. The provision, which was fiercely opposed and blocked by labor unions representing civil servants, makes it possible to initiate administrative processes to punish employees for poor performance or to remove obsolete posts.

Marcel Van Hattem from the center-right Novo Party stated that “we are proud to support this reform which will modernize our public service,” and added, “We just have to reform state.”