In the first three weeks of work of the year, the deputies preferentially appreciated projects that are on the agenda of the president of the Chamber and his allies. The House approved, for example, the extension of the maximum age for entry of judges and ministers in higher courts. This is a demand of the Judiciary, where cases of several parliamentarians are being processed. A proposal was also approved that facilitates the granting of registration of pesticides — an old request from ruralists, a sector that has good relations with Lira.
In the case of increasing the maximum age in higher courts, attention was drawn to the ease with which the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) was approved by the special commission, without resistance. In addition, a few days later, the plenary approved the project in two rounds. Normally, PECs have a longer process in the Legislature.
The ball of the moment, however, is the release of the gaming, an undertaking for which Lira has been articulating in favor since last year. The project's rapporteur, deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), said he has not yet finalized his opinion. Party leaders hope, however, to address the issue and negotiate adjustments to the final text this morning, in order to try to vote on it in the afternoon.
Carreras has been going weekly to the official residence of the presidency of the Chamber to align the final version with Lira and leaders of the House. Although Bolsonaro has officially taken a stand against the matter, the government leader in the Chamber, Ricardo Barros (PP-PR), acts to approve the text quickly.
In the current version, the project in question, which has been going through the Chamber since 1991, allows casinos, bingos and jogo do bicho. The rapporteur, however, intends to impose restrictions, among them delimiting that casinos can only operate in tourist regions and, even so, as part of hotel complexes, such as resorts. The locations would be defined by regulation of the Executive Branch. Bingo would only be allowed in specialized houses or football stadiums.
They could also be exploited by philanthropic, religious and Santas Casas entities to raise funds. In the case of the jogo do bicho, the most controversial of the modalities, operating licenses would be tendered. In the states, for every one million inhabitants, a license may be granted. The minimum capital to enter the dispute would be R$ 10 million (US$ 1.9m).
The evangelical bench presses for the proposal to be appreciated only after Carnival, when there will be a return to face-to-face work. Yesterday (21), Lira was questioned by the group for having put the topic on the agenda. Since the return of activities, he says that the matter can be voted on “at any time”, and an agreement was already reached last year.
The president of the Chamber shared with allies, since the end of last year, a list of projects that he considers important. These are proposals that he wants to be on the agenda or that have already been approved by the deputies and he would like them to be continued in the Senate.
In addition to gaming, the list includes topics such as the framework for the electricity sector, Refis and some texts of interest to the government, such as the New Guarantee Framework — a project that creates institutions to manage guarantees provided by debtors.
Lira has also been committed to speeding up the project, already approved by the Senate, which criminalizes the mass dissemination of fake news, but completely reformulated by the Chamber. Reported by deputy Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP), the text is being analyzed by the parties' benches.
Last week, Lira authorized the addition of another project to the original version, which included the possibility of tracking the origin of shared content, whether through messaging applications or social networks.
“The Senate text already has traceability, that is, this debate is open. We already have about 90 bills added, which shows the interest of parliamentarians, the relevance and urgency of the topic,” said Orlando Silva.
In addition to this point, there are discussions about the model of sanctions provided for networks that fail to comply with the legislation. At the same time, the government released a list of topics that it considers essential — and that have not received the same attention from Lira, at least for the time being.
Source: Globo
