The bill to legalise land-based casinos in Brazil is ready to be voted upon despite evangelical pushback, according to the bill’s rapporteur senator Irajá Abreu.
The legal online betting market launched in Brazil on 1 January, but PL 2,234/2022 remains in limbo despite being approved by the Justice and Citizenship Committee in June last year.
The senate vote was pushed back on a number of occasions, but Irajá said she remains confident the bill has the necessary support to be approved soon, despite pushback from a number of political parties.
“Based on the debates we had in the senate with public hearings, the matter is ready, ripe to be discussed and voted on in the plenary, as soon as our [senate] president Davi [Alcolumbre], together with the party leaders, understands that the environment is suitable for voting,” Irajá told Poder360 last Wednesday (9 April).
Irajá believes the legalisation of land-based casinos will provide an additional BRL22 billion (£2.8 billion/$3.8 billion) in taxes to the state, while also helping to double tourism numbers from six million to 12 million a year.
“It is an important project for the country,” Irajá added. “We are going to revolutionise Brazilian tourism.”
“We cannot stand by and watch neighbouring countries like Argentina, Uruguay and Chile receive so many millions of international tourists, while Brazil cannot, because it does not offer this type of responsible gambling tourism.”
Opposition to land-based casinos in Brazil
To ensure the bill passes, Irajá will be flexible in altering the text to try and gather support from land-based gambling’s opponents, such as opposition party the Evangelical Parliamentary Front.
“I am open to dialogue, including with the evangelical bench, which has taken a very firm position against the approval of this matter. I believe in common sense,” Irajá explained.
Deputy Gilberto Nascimento, who took over as the president of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front in February, has said his party won’t support casino legalisation.
“I will ask everyone to be against it,” Nascimento revealed to Poder360 on Sunday (13 April). “We will mobilise.
“Everyone is addicted [to gambling], just look at what is happening with [online] betting. Casinos and physical games tend to get worse. Brazil is not a country with a vocation for gambling.”
Senator Jacques Wagner of Brazil’s Workers’ Party told Poder360 last week the time was not right to legalise land-based gambling.
“It is the worst time to debate this, due to the repercussions of the bets. There is no climate to vote this semester,” Wagner added.
1
20
20
