The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), admitted today (22) the resistance of parliamentarians from the so-called evangelical bench to the approval of the bill that legalizes activities such as bingos, animal games and casinos in Brazil. However, the project should go to the vote later this week, said the parliamentarian. 
“It is an issue that can bring foreign exchange, tourism, jobs, income, revenue to the country and that will be treated seriously. Got opposition? Have. Do you have resistance? Have. But these treatments were placed very clearly with the bench for which I have a lot of respect, which is the evangelical bench”, said Lira when participating, this morning, in an event held by the BTG Pactual bank and which had the presence of the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.
According to Lira, Bill 442, which has been pending in the National Congress since 1991, should enter the Chamber’s voting agenda today or tomorrow (23), “depending on the conversations we will have today, to adjust some things in the text”. This Tuesday’s plenary session is scheduled to begin at 1:55 pm. “We are sewing [política] very calmly for it to be approved”.
The replacement text for the original proposal, which was approved in 2016, establishes that casinos must be installed in resorts, as part of an integrated leisure complex, considering the size of the population of the federative unit where it is located.
The substitute also allows the operation of bingos in specific places (bingo houses), in addition to jockeys clubs and football stadiums and also, eventually, for fundraising for philanthropic, religious and Santas Casas entities. However, until the discussion is closed, parliamentarians can present amendments to modify the text approved by the special commission that dealt with the matter.
Enthusiastic about the proposal, Lira stated that the Parliament did not decide on the subject beforehand because of the resistance of some sectors to the debate.
“Where don’t games take place in Brazil? We’ve had the animal game for a lifetime. We have casinos – and I don’t want to be rude, but in São Paulo, there must be more than 300. We have online games – the Brazilian team itself [de futebol] is sponsored by a website that deals with online games whose advertisements are all around the football fields. You click on one of these sites and open a virtual casino. The Brazilian enters with his credit card, plays, bets and the tax is paid in the United Kingdom or Germany. So, it’s pure demagoguery or the interest of some sectarian groups that don’t want this debate to go ahead”, said Lira, denying that the bill is excessively permissive.
“No. It is a hard rule, with clear compliance to avoid all the malevolent versions that are put on top of this topic”, said the deputy, referring to the rules that companies will have to comply with to be authorized to exploit the games.
*With information from the Câmara Notícias portal
