The Brazil senate yesterday (4 December) again delayed a planned vote on a bill to legalise land-based casinos, bingo halls and betting on horseracing in the country. The vote will now happen in 2025 due to ongoing uncertainty over the proposal.
Bill 2,234/2022 was approved back in June by the Chamber of Deputies’ Constitution and Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJC) on a 14-12 vote. However, the bill, which would also legalise lottery-type game jogo do bicho in Brazil, has suffered several setbacks.
An August vote date was missed while hopes for an October vote were also dashed. Irajá Silvestre, the senator behind the bill, last month said he hoped a vote would take place before the end of 2024.
A vote was scheduled in the senate yesterday (4 December) but did not take place. Senators staged a debate over the proposal, but Irajá elected to withdraw the bill. Protestors opposed to the plans also held demonstrations outside the senate prior to the debate.
Setting out the next steps, senate president Rodrigo Pacheco said the bill will be put to a vote next year.
Gambling addiction a concern for bill opponents
In the meantime, several departments will consider responses to queries raised over the bill. These include a request for projection data on how the changes would impact treatment of potential gambling addiction among Brazilians.
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger are due to issue comment. Local media has reported these responses must be filed within the next 30 days.
Eduardo Girão is one senator who opposes the bill. He said that the legalisation of online gambling in Brazil is already generating concerns, despite the regulated market having not yet opened. Brazil is due to launch on 1 January 2025.
Online betting is facing significant backlash following the release of a number of studies that suggested gambling is seriously impacting consumer spending habits particularly among vulnerable groups, like those receiving social welfare.
Political groups and trade unions are trying to have the law supporting the legalised betting sector deemed unconstitutional via the Supreme Court. The outcome of the November hearing is expected early next year.
“We had a signal from the betting companies, which we approved exactly one year ago here, and we made a mistake, and the mistake is there: lives destroyed,” Girão said. “And we cannot take another step, make another mistake, which could cause more problems than solutions.”
Senator Eliziane Gama went as far as to say that the bill should be shelved permanently. Esperidião Amin, another senator, said that as the issue has been in “limbo” for several years, it should now be buried.
“It (the bill) was not resurrected, it never died: it was in purgatory, it was in limbo, waiting for an opportunity,” Amin said. “Six feet is not enough. It has to disappear.”
Irajá seeks to prevent black market gambling
However, Irajá remains defiant in his hope that the bill to pass. Prior to requesting that the vote be postponed, he set out how the legislation would help address illegal gambling in Brazil. He said by creating a legal market, this would provide a safer environment for players,
“We are facing a major dilemma in Brazil,” Irajá said. “There are those who defend the maintenance of gambling controlled and dominated by organised crime in the country. And others like me who defend responsible gaming in the country, controlled by the government, which is monitored, and which also allows taxes to be collected and those who commit crimes to be punished.”
A date has not yet been set for the next vote.
