The Casinos Draft Bill, which allows games in Brazil, began to gain support among senators. The proposal has been blocked for almost two years, but it looks like it will now start to move forward. Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), president of the Senate, plans to bring forward the vote and make it a priority after the recess.
The text, which has already been approved by the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), hopes to go to the plenary. But parliamentarians are committed to working to form the majority needed for approval.
Senators confident in the approval of the Cassinos PL
Instead of accelerating the Casinos Draft Bill as the government wanted and voting on the matter before the recess, the senators stated that the priorities are different.
In other words, in the coming days, projects related to state debts and payroll relief will be debated. Therefore, once these votes are finished, the House will go into recess and will only return to work on August 1st.
The project’s rapporteur, senator Irajá (PSD-TO), is confident of approval and minimizes resistance. He believes that the measure will boost employment and boost tourism in Brazil.
“This matter will do the country good. There will be investments of R$100 billion and new projects in five years, in addition to generating more than 1 million direct and indirect jobs. Other countries that approved the measure saw tourism grow a lot, while Brazil is left out of the world circuit”, he stated.
The Federation of Hotels, Bars, Restaurants and Similar Products of the State of São Paulo (Fhoresp) predicts a turnover of R$30 billion in the state of São Paulo alone.
“We raised around R$15 billion in daily allowances and R$5 billion in food and beverages today. I believe we can increase 20 to 30% of these values in daily rates and up to 50% in food. With machines and games, we can double the value, reaching R$30 billion per year”, said Bruno Omori, director of Fhoresp.
The expectation is that approval of the text will make Brazil the third largest gambling market in the world, behind only the United States and the principality of Monaco.
“We will have, in two large hubs – Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo – the presence of bingos, tourist casinos, in addition to Caixa and state lotteries. Therefore, there will be strong economic movement in the country”, added Omori.
Debates and oppositions
The project was approved by the CCJ on June 19, by 14 votes to 12. The tight score reflects the resistance, mainly from the evangelical bench. But Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), leader of the evangelical bench in Congress, criticized the project,
He believes that the text will increase gambling and crime in the country. “It’s a bad project. It causes an increase in money laundering and crimes committed by people involved in gambling and casinos. Therefore, it will put the poorest in debt. During bingo season, the poorest retirees were left penniless”, Girão stressed.
Irajá countered the criticism and says that the text already provides measures to prevent gambling disorder. According to the senator, the project prohibits the use of credit cards, creates a national registry of players and prevents loans and financing for gambling enthusiasts.
“The proposal does not authorize the use of credit cards, only Pix or debit. It is planned to create a national register of players, similar to Serasa, to identify compulsive gamblers”, highlighted Irajá.
Casino money laundering
But the concern about money laundering is also highlighted by experts. However, the proposal presents alternatives to undermine the distribution of illegal money and monitor the transactions of companies linked to the casino industry.
Therefore, if approved, the Casinos Draft Bill tends to be sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The PT member himself stated that he had reached an agreement with congressmen to speed up the text, with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
Therefore, after the sanction, deputies and senators must speed up the processing of a second text, which will deal with the regulation of casinos and bingos. The measures should only come into force between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026.
