Brazil: Senate postpones vote on bill to regulate casinos, bingos and gambling until August due to recess

The Federal Senate went into recess on Thursday, July 18, without voting on bill 2.234/22 in plenary session. Consequently, the debate on the proposal to legalize casinos, bingo halls, and gambling will take place when senators return from recess on August 1.

As Yogonet had anticipated, the vote was not expected to take place before the recess. "There is no need to rush. We can perfectly well vote after the recess. But it will happen, it will be voted, because, having passed through the House, the CCJ [Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission] of the Senate, if there is a predisposition of the Executive, we have to submit it to a vote," said in June the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco.

Despite Pacheco's statement, there were movements for the bill to be voted on as soon as possible. One of the most active voices in defense of the bill is that of Senator Irajá Silvestre (PSD-TO), rapporteur of the text in the CCJ.

"We need to close this issue of the casino bill to move on to another agenda, which is the regulation of the measure. We have the majority of senators convinced to approve the matter. The text has been in suspense for a year and a half and we have had the opportunity to have a broad debate, exhausting the discussion. The matter is ready to be considered," Irajá stated at the beginning of July.

President Luiz Inácio do Lula himself reportedly told Pacheco that he would like the bill to be voted on before the recess, according to information published by CNN.

Seen as an opportunity to increase tax revenue, attract investments, and create jobs (Irajá presented an estimate of more than one million new direct and indirect jobs), PL 2.234/22 is the subject of a dispute in Congress with the evangelical caucus, which strongly opposes the proposal.

The origins of the bill date back more than 30 years: the text was first presented in 1991 by the then federal deputy Renato Vianna. In 2022 it was approved by the Chamber of Deputies and since then it has been pending discussion in the Senate.