The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), made it clear that he is in no rush to table the bill on casinos and gambling in the House Plenary.
He highlighted that the priorities in this second semester are the renegotiation of state debts and compensation for payroll relief. These issues are urgent and directly impact the national economy.
These two issues were also listed as priorities for August by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), during a recent meeting with Pacheco.
Therefore, the proposal that legalizes gambling in Brazil, already approved by the Chamber of Deputies, should only be discussed after the first round of municipal elections, in October.
Pressure
Pressure from the evangelical bench also influences the decision to postpone the debate. They prepared studies to convince government senators to vote against the initiative. The main argument of evangelicals is that games can encourage addiction in the country, causing serious social and economic problems.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice fears that the measure will encourage money laundering, increasing crime and making it difficult to control illegal finances.
Despite these concerns, President Lula stated that he tends to sanction the proposal. The project has the support of both the economic team and the political wing of the government, who see the legalization of casinos as an opportunity to increase tax revenue.
The expectation is that, in the long term, the release of the games could generate revenue of R$22 billion for the federal government. Thus, resources that could be invested in several priority areas.
Regulation of online betting leveraged lobbying for the release of casinos
In June, the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee approved the proposal for the legalization of casinos, with the vote in Plenary still pending. The government signaled that it must do more to approve the proposal from now on.
This is because the market understands that the release of physical casinos, bingos, slot machines, horse betting and other forms of gaming is a natural step after the regulation of online betting. Thus, specific rules for sports betting and online gaming will come into force in January 2025.
