Brazil: "The bill rejected Wednesday can still re-emerge, but it has lost strength"

As reported Thursday by Yogonet, a majority of the members of the Senate's Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) voted against PLS 186/2014 —Benedito de Lira's bill—, based on the original law introduced by Ciro Nogueira, which provides for gambling regulation and the reopening of casinos in Brazil. The proposed law was rejected with 13 votes against and 2 in favor.

"However, this does not mean that the proposed legislation has been shelved. It can still be subject to the whole Senate's vote, although its potential for approval has lost strength. Now, a proposal has to be brought forward by a ‘Relator’ —senator designated by the president of a Committee to be in charge of a bill— before the whole Senate, and the supporting senators would have to reject the opposing bill drafted by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues at the CCJ, and present a new substitute bill, " explained Edgar Lenzi.

The expert also pointed out that some senators who were going to vote in favor changed their votes at the last moment, modifying the final outcome: "In addition to the senators, some federal members of the Chamber of Deputies, supporters of the legalization of casinos exclusively were also present during the voting. Some say they were the reason the vote count changed and they were present as a strategy to add supporters to their position. "

According to Lenzi, the "casino exclusive" proposal gained some strength recently. He explained that it could be included as an amendment to the new tourism bill, which has not yet been submitted to vote and has an urgent call to do so. In case it is put to vote, it is expected to be approved rapidly by the whole Chamber of Deputies. However, if the aforementioned amendment is not made, the PL 442/1991 —the Deputies’ bill— could also be included in the new proposed tourism law as an annex, and submitted to vote anyway. The third alternative would be to include some fragments of the Deputies’ bill in the new proposed tourism law.

"To sum up, it can be concluded that Benedito de Lira's proposed legislation was weakened after its rejection by the Senate’s CCJ, and at the same time, the new tourism bill gathered strength. Both bills can still be voted on by both Chambers, although PLS 186/2014 would need a substitute, and the tourism bill would require either an amendment to include casinos or the addition of PL 442/1991 as an annex or in fragments. As regards the other alternatives, such as the privatization of Lotex (exclusive instant lottery) and sports betting, a proposal for their inclusion could come from the Ministry of Finance, but they are not subject to discussion yet,” concluded Lenzi.