The Senate continues to be at the mercy of opponents of legal gambling in Brazil and has once again postponed the vote on Bill 2,234/2022, which legalizes casinos, bingos and jogo do bicho in the country. The Constitution and Justice Commission had scheduled the vote on the project at this Wednesday's (17) meeting, but it ended up being removed from the agenda.
The president of the CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP) informed that he received a request from several senators for the matter not to be voted on. He then informed the rapporteur of the matter, Irajá (PSD-TO).
Favorable to the project and with a report approving the text that arrived from the Chamber of Deputies (Bill 442/1991), Irajá ended up having to bend over backwards against legal gambling in Brazil.
Irajá kept Bill442/1991 in full, which in the Senate became number 2,234, changing only the indication from Ministry of Economy to Ministry of Finance, following the change in the name of the Department with the beginning of President Lula's term.
The text authorizes the installation of casinos in tourist centers or integrated leisure complexes, under the limit of one casino in each state and the Federal District, with the exception of São Paulo, which could have up to three casinos, and Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Amazonas and Pará, in which the limit foreseen for each state is two casinos.
According to the proposal, gaming houses will also be able to operate on sea and river vessels, which will follow specific rules. The casino must demonstrate a minimum paid-up share capital of at least R$100 million (US$ 20m) and may be accredited for 30 years.
The proposal also establishes rules for the operation of bingo in card and electronic formats, and allows in each state the accreditation of one legal entity for every 700 thousand inhabitants.
In this case, the authorizations will be valid for 25 years, renewable for the same period. Horse racing may be operated by turf entities (linked to turf) accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture, which may also operate, at the same time, bingo and video bingo games.
In his report, Irajá dismissed as an “indeterminate legal concept” the offense against morals and good customs, used as an argument against gambling, and highlighted that the project seeks to transfer to State control a practice that today constitutes a misdemeanor.
Citing statistics on the legal or illegal betting market, Irajá concludes that “gambling already constitutes a relevant economic activity”. The rapporteur rejected the amendments offered by the senators and offered a wording amendment replacing the mentions of “Ministry of Economy” with “Ministry of Finance”.
The matter had already been scheduled for the end of December 2023 and the only reason the vote was not taken to cancel the meeting was due to the tight agenda in the Senate with the arrival of the parliamentary recess and other relevant items to be discussed in Parliament.
Now, due to pressure and with the postponement, a new date will be set for the resumption of the project at the Constitution and Justice Commission.
Source: GMB
