The senator responsible for the proposal, Irajá, decided to withdraw it from the agenda due to an unfavorable climate for a positive vote. The matter will be debated again outside the Senate Plenary, and the ruling party hopes to bring it back to the chamber next year.
Brazil.- Despite the expectations generated around the possible sanction of Bill 2.234/22, the vote to regulate gambling in Brazil was postponed until next year. The Senate postponed the vote on the bill that authorizes the operation of casinos and bingos in Brazil, legalizes gambling, and allows betting on horse races, among other gambling activities. The proposal was withdrawn at the request of the rapporteur, Irajá, after extensive debate among the senators about its future. According to the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, with this decision, the proposal will be voted on only next year.
On one hand, there was an urgent request to vote on the matter, which was never voted on. On the other, there were requests for information from ministries and requests to send the PL 2.234/2022 to three committees. With the withdrawal of the proposal from the agenda, Pacheco announced that the project will await responses from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, which must be delivered within 30 days.
Presented by Senator Flávio Arns, the request asks for "data projection on the specific effects of the proposal on the services of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in the public network for the treatment of gambling addiction problems." Since the urgent request was not approved, the amendments presented will have to be analyzed by the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) under the management of the next Board of Directors and the new presidency of the collegiate.
The majority of the senators who intervened requested that the debate be expanded, with the distribution of the project to the committees on Social Affairs (CAS), Economic Affairs (CAE), and Public Security (CSP).
The reason Irajá requested the postponement of the vote was the unfavorable climate for the approval of the matter, with senators from the opposition and even from the government asking for the proposal to be withdrawn from the day's agenda. Previously, requests were approved to obtain information from government bodies on projections of the impact of gambling on the mental health of players and the capacity to treat these people in the public network.
The project's rapporteur regretted the delay in the vote. "We are experiencing a great dilemma in Brazil. There are those who defend the maintenance of gambling controlled and dominated by organized crime in the country and others, like me, who defend responsible gambling in the country, controlled by public authorities, which should be supervised and also able to collect taxes and punish those who commit crimes," declared Irajá.
Supporters of the project argue that the approval of the project will generate billions of reais in tax revenues, in addition to the creation of millions of direct and indirect jobs.
Opponents, such as the Evangelical Parliamentary Front, formed by 22 of the 81 senators, argue that the regulation of gambling will increase addiction. The president of the evangelical caucus, Senator Carlos Viana, stated on Monday, December 2, that he and other members of the group were determined to take all possible measures to delay the vote on the project.
During the session, Senator Eduardo Girão, one of the project's biggest detractors, compared the situation of this proposal with the approval of Law 14.790 which regulates online sports betting. "We had a signal with the bets, which we approved here exactly a year ago, and we made a mistake, and the mistake is there: lives shattered. And we cannot take another step, make another mistake, which can cause more problems than solutions," he opined.
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Others, like legislators Esperidião Amin and Eliziane Gama directly requested that the project be archived, however, this was not proceeded with and now it will be debated again outside the plenary of the Senate, but only starting next year.
