On September 10, 2015, the senator from Tocantins, Donizeti Nogueira (PT - Partido dos Trabalhadores), spoke before his colleagues to propose PLS 595 so that ICMBio has the prerogative to authorize the operation of casino hotels through presentation and execution of the Environmental Protection Plan of a Conservation Unit by the private agent authorized to operate the hotels.
"I am proposing that this Legislative House rediscss the authorization for the operation of betting games in the national territory. I am not talking, however, about discussing the authorization to operate casinos in Brazil as an end in itself, but as a mean to achieve a greater goal linked to the protection of the environment," explained Nogueira.
At that moment, Senator Ana Amelia expressed her support for Nogueira's intention: "Congratulations, Senator Donizeti, for the initiative! Many may disagree on some points. When talking about casino or legalization of gaming in Brazil, there are many people who react differently. But I think you have made a good contribution to the debate on an important subject. Instead of taxing other things, let’s tax gaming as a new resource. That would be a way, for example, as the United States does to dedicate resources to indians communities."
In addition, Amelia introduced more information about how Las Vegas taxes were distributed, which showed the lack of knowledge about gaming and its economic benefits to the country: "In Las Vegas, for example, all tax collection goes to the indian community of that region. So we could also have a collection of resources not only for the preservation of important areas, such as the Amazon or other areas of legal or environmental reserves, but also for obtaining a source of financial resources, to help Brazil in this critical moment that we are living."
In 2017, the senator chosen by Geraldo Alckmin to accompany him in the October presidential race, presented two amendments to PL 184/2016 that tried, without success, to legalize the activity in Brazil. Amendment 69, presented to the CCJ, intended to direct 2% of the revenue generated by the collection of tax obligations to the National Public Security Fund.
"Within the three pillars of support of Brazilian society (health, education and public security), the only one that does not have the budget for constitutionalised investment is security. There is a possibility that some of the amounts collected through taxation for the exploitation of games in Brazil could be destined to provide investments in the Brazilian public security system," said the justification of her amendment.
The senator and rapporteur of the project, Benedito de Lira, rejected it because § 4 of art. 34 of the Substitute Amendment to the final presented already contemplated the transfer by the Union of 30% for the States and the Federal District and other 30% for the Municipalities of the amount of collection of the contribution for application in health, social security and social assistance. And it is not possible, under the terms of the Constitution, to highlight the percentage of 2% for the National Public Security Fund.
Amendment No. 73, also authored by Ana Amelia, aimed to authorize racetracks to operate casinos. The text was intended to allow all Jockey Clubs, mainly of smaller size, to operate the modalities of video games of chance, a measure that would allow to make viable the tourist entities as a whole and not only those located in Big centers.
"In addition, as the original proposition is written, there are several limitations to the exploration of games of chance in small cities that, for the most part, will be excluded from the possibility of exploiting casino games. We also propose to revoke § 2 of art. 9 of Law No. 7,291 of December 19, 1984, which deals with the contravention of bets on horse races and refers to two legal acts that PLS No. 186 of 2014 proposes to repeal: Decree-Law n 3,688, dated October 3, 1041, and Decree-Law No. 6,259 of February 10, 1944. In the light of all of the foregoing, we request the support for the approval of this Amendment, which will contribute to the improvement of the regulation on games of chance in Brazil," the senator said to justify her request to the CCJ.
Finally, this amendment was also rejected because the spirit of the project is to authorize casinos only in large recreational and entertainment complexes, which does not identify with the structure of the racetracks.
Source: GMB
