Once again, the president of the Committee on Constitution and Justice, Davi Alcolumbre, took advantage of the absence of Senator Irajá (who had already announced a favorable vote), to avoid the debate on the project that legalizes casinos, bingos, and the "jogo do bicho" in Brazil. As anticipated by GMB, the committee postponed the decision that was on the agenda of the meeting.
Even with several favorable demonstrations to the project and serious and responsible clarifications, the opponents to legal gambling in Brazil continue to force the postponement of PL 2.234/2022.
The project authorizes the installation of casinos in tourist hubs or in integrated leisure complexes, under the limit of one casino per state and in 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, where the limit for each state is two casinos.
It was the second item on the agenda of the Senate's Committee on Constitution and Justice meeting, but not even a discussion was opened about it. The president of the CCJ, Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União-PA), simply skipped over the agenda and did not bring the matter to the committee.
After the meeting ended, Davi Alcolumbre admitted that he might appoint an ad hoc rapporteur if Irajá is absent in the next session. In this case, the chosen parliamentarian would have the task only to read the report issued by another senator due to the absence of the original rapporteur.
The assessment of the president of the CCJ is that, due to the "controversial" nature of the project, it would be ideal to vote on it with the presence of the original rapporteur. "If Irajá were here, we would vote", he stated.
Last week it had been agreed to remove the PL from the agenda due to the absence of the rapporteur, Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), who had already advanced being in favor of the matter. As he was absent again, the matter did not even come up for discussion.
As expected, as agreed in a previous CCJ meeting, it would enter the agenda and during the discussion, a collective view of the PL would be given, to go to a vote in a face-to-face meeting on June 5.
With no discussion, it is expected that it will come up for discussion in the next semi-presence session, and that the senators will request a view of the project. Otherwise, the June 5 deadline may not be respected.
According to the proposal, already approved in the Chamber of Deputies within the scope of PL 442/91, in addition to the legalization of casinos in tourist hubs or in integrated leisure complexes, bingos and jogo do bicho, gaming houses on maritime and river vessels, which will follow specific rules, can also operate. The casino must prove a minimum integrated social capital of at least R$ 100 million and can be accredited for 30 years.
The proposition also establishes rules for the game of bingo in cartela and electronic modalities, and allows in each state the accreditation of a legal entity for every 700,000 inhabitants for the exploitation of the jogo do bicho.
In this case, the authorizations will have a validity of 25 years, renewable for an equal period. Horse races may be exploited by turf entities (linked to turf) accredited in the Ministry of Agriculture, which may also explore, at the same time, games of bingo and videobingo.
In his report, Irajá dismissed as “undetermined legal concept” the offense to morals and good customs, used as an argument against gambling, and highlighted that the project deals with passing to the State control a practice that today constitutes a misdemeanor.
Citing statistics on the market of legal or illegal bets, Irajá concludes that “gambling already constitutes a relevant economic activity”.
Source: GMB
