There will be a vote on casino gaming in Brazil this week if the sponsor of the bill, Senator Benedito de Lira, has his way. The senator pulled the bill from consideration in the last legislative session to make changes requested by some members, but says the time has come to put it to a vote.
“All that had to be done has already been done,” he said.
Games Magazine Brazil reported that de Lira wants to dedicate tax revenue from gaming to Social Security. According to the magazine, there are two camps in the gaming debate: one that wants all gaming legalized—casinos, bingos and jogo do bicho (a lottery style animal matching game)—and another that wants only legalized casinos approved.
Senator Ciro Nogueira, author of the proposal in the Senate, is in the camp of legalizing everything.
“There is no point in covering the sun with a finger and banning something that already exists. Brazil is one of the countries where there is more betting in the world. There is no point in allowing only the casino, because other games will continue to exist in an illegal way,” said Nogueira.
On the other hand, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, wants to limit it to casinos because their impact would be much greater in job creation, unemployment reduction and tax revenues.
Even if the Senate passes the bill, it still must clear the Chamber. MP Guilherme Mussi, the sponsor in the House, wants to follow the path of the Senate.
“I was waiting for the Senate issue, which seems to be a bit more advanced,” Mussi said. “In the Chamber there has not been many changes (the proposal has been going on for 27 years). I do not see any kind of advance or conversation.”
