An old controversy may have an outcome this year in Congress. Two projects that legalize gambling are at an advanced stage in the Chamber and Senate.
One of the proposals (PLS 186/14) is to be voted on in the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission, the last step before going to the Plenary. Another (PL 0442/91) was approved by a special committee of the House and is ready to be voted on in the House Plenary, and already has a request for urgency signed by several leaders, but has not yet been approved.
Both projects legalize jogo do bicho, bingo, video-bingo, sports betting, online gaming and casinos. The legalization was defended last year by 13 governors meeting in Brasilia. They consider the activity an alternative of collection in the face of the current local economic crisis.
This is one of the main arguments of the defenders of the activity, who estimate an extra collection of 15 billion reais per year and the generation of 1 million jobs. For MP Nelson Marquezelli, of the PTB of São Paulo, legalization will generate jobs and resources, which does not happen today because gaming is clandestine.
"If we want to have a discount on Brazilian taxation we need to look for new revenues." Brazil has 200,000 players, who travel to bet in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Foz do Iguaçu, Las Vegas. Why do not we regulate something that already exists in Brazil?
The arguments favoring the legalization of gaming are opposed by experts and entities that do not support legalization. For example, the Movimento Brasil sem Azar maintains that new jobs will not be generated, but only displaced workers from other sectors.
Another entity, Anfip, an association that brings together the tax inspectors of the Federal Revenue Service, expects a collection of five times less, of 3 billion, insufficient to cover the increase of expenses in the inspection of gaming, as well as health, security and infrastructure.
The president of the Parliamentary Front against the Legalization of Gaming, the deputy Roberto de Lucena, of the SP of São Paulo, defends a plebiscite before the approval of the project. And yet only if agencies such as the Revenue and Federal Police say they can prevent organized crime from using such activities to do foreign exchange evasion and money laundering, for example.
"If we have these three institutions, the Federal Police, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Revenue Service, certifying that we have the instruments and frameworks to monitor and prevent this type of procedure, I already have the first issue resolved. The second one is that in the in upcoming general elections we could made a plebiscite, a consultation of society. "
The House project provides for the operation of three casinos per state. It also authorizes the operation of bingo houses, including in jockey clubs and football stadiums. And it also allows states to create their own lotteries - which has been banned since 1967.
To avoid criticism regarding activity control, the proposal provides for the creation of a federal regulatory agency to oversee gaming and other measures: houses will not be able to lend money to bettors and will have to inform the identity of those who win more than 10,000 reais at one time. It also provides for the creation of a national registry of gambling addicts, who will be banned from entering betting establishments.
Source: GMB / Antonio Vital - RADIO CAMERA
