According to the Bill, the exploitation of the lottery service by the states has always been a very controversial topic in jurisprudence and legal doctrine.
“For many years it was understood that only the Union could provide such service, having been filed numerous actions in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to contest state laws that perhaps decided to take the initiative and establish lotteries. In the case of Sergipe, Law No. 2954, of January 28, 1991, created the lottery service, subordinated to the former Secretariat of Economy and Finance. In view of the recurring understanding of the STF at the time about the impossibility of the States to legislate, this normative diploma was revoked by Law nº 6.402, of April 30, 2008,” explains the text.
The document also informs that the vote of the reporting minister Gilmar Mendes, the exploitation of lotteries has a legal nature of public service, with the Union having the private competence to legislate on the matter, but without affecting the material competence of the states to provide the service.
“States may establish the public lottery service, provided that the Union's competence to regulate the modalities of lottery activities subject to exploitation is respected. In this context, considering the new position of the Supreme Court on the subject, the states began to mobilize to organize in their territories, the provision of lottery services, as in the cases of Paraíba, São Paulo and Maranhão. The state of Sergipe is also part of this scenario, seeking, through this proposal, the authorization of this Legislative House to provide the lottery service, as defined by the Supreme Court," justifies the Executive.
The bill will be sent to the Executive so that Governor Belivaldo Chagas can take the next steps towards the publication of a public call for feasibility studies and implementation of the lottery.
Source: GMB / ALESE
