Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, candidate for reelection, was once again forced to not let the bill that legalizes gambling in Brazil go through the Senate. Hostage of the evangelical bench and with an eye on the faithful, Bolsonaro may not have the necessary strength to prevent the progress of Bill 442/91 in the Senate, but the leader of the Liberal Party, Valdemar Costa Neto, convinced the campaign's marketing team to block the process.
In any case, the president, divided between his son Flávio Bolsonaro, who fights for the legalization of gambling, and the evangelicals, who want to bar the discussion of the topic, is letting the work behind the scenes for approval be commanded by his the eldest son (known as 01), and the gambling scene by the president himself.
The difficulty is to know if Bolsonaro, the father, will be able to hold the process of Bill 442/91 in the Senate, which already has a defined rapporteur. Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) was appointed last week to report on the matter and as he has already said that funding the minimum wage for nursing will be able to rely on resources from gambling, it is possible that at least initial discussions and a report preliminary draft is prepared at the beginning of the second semester, that is, before the elections.
The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), said that the project will not be shelved in the House and that, most likely, it will be approved. Even without setting deadlines, at least it took the first initiative, which was to appoint a rapporteur for the matter.
In conversation with GMB, federal deputy Newton Cardoso Jr. (MDB-MG) said that the project would not stand still and that both Pacheco and Alcolumbre have a modern vision for Brazil and that this could contribute to the continuity of the process. The president of the Senate, according to Cardoso, assured that he would not shelve the Bill and the appointment of the rapporteur is a demonstration that part of Pacheco's commitment has already been fulfilled. It remains to be seen whether the project will be sent to the House committees or directly to the Rapporteur and Plenary.
About the Senate rapporteur, Newton Cardoso said “he is a senator with great knowledge and a modern vision, which will allow the gambling sector to be seen as a clean economic activity capable of bringing wealth from the generation of jobs and taxes.” He highlighted that Brazil cannot give up a collection that exceeds R$ 30 billion (US$ 5.65b) a year with a legalized gambling industry.
Source: GMB
