Brazil: Senate committee resumes debate on the legalization of casinos, bingos and jogo do bicho

The Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission of the Brazilian Senate will resume on May 15 the debate of Bill 2.234/2022, which seeks to legalize physical casinos in resorts, besides allowing the operation of bingos and jogo do bicho.

According to the news portal BNLData, the bill is the second item on the committee's voting agenda, among a total of 20 proposals scheduled to be discussed.

In April, the bill was expected to be voted in committee, but the issue was withdrawn from the agenda and senators held a public hearing on May 9 to debate the issue with guests for and against legalization.

Behind the scenes, the expectation is that there will be a request for a vote on the report presented by the rapporteur, Senator Irajá Silvestre (PSD-TO), which could take place on May 22, as reported by BNLData.

Senator Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), the alternate member of the committee, was critical of the gambling sector in the context of the discussion of online sports betting and, on social networks, called on society to mobilize against the proposal.

"I call for the urgent mobilization of society against another serious threat that afflicts Brazilian families and the country's economy: the liberation of gambling! While we are living a tragedy with our brothers in Rio Grande do Sul, the lobby in the Federal Senate for the inclusion of the infamous games such as casinos, bingos, and jogo do bicho is in full swing," he said.

Senator Irajá Silvestre

On the other hand, supporters of the bill cited benefits such as tourism incentives, job creation, increased tax revenue, and the possibility of regulating an activity that already exists in the country.

"What we have is a projection and expectation of the volume of business that there will be in Brazil once this issue is regulated. We have some studies that indicate that there will be investments of around $40 billion. We are talking about another BRL 200 billion [at the current price] invested here, 200,000 direct jobs," said Irajá Silvestre in a conversation with TV Senado about the project.

Meanwhile, members of Lula's (Workers' Party) government have also pronounced themselves in favor of the legalization of land-based casinos in Brazil. Among them are the Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, and the President of the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of International Tourism (Embratur), Marcelo Freixo.

"I see it as a way to regularize something that already happens, but in a clandestine and uncontrolled way. I also see it as a social issue that needs to be solved and not just an economic one," said Freixo in an interview with the newspaper Correio Braziliense.