According to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies News Agency, the Plenary may vote today on the bill that legalizes gambling, and that includes the operation of casinos, bingos and the legalization of the “jogo do bicho“, through the bill PL 442/91.
The proposal also opens the possibility for the states to operate their own lotteries, and the plenary session is scheduled to begin at 1:55 p.m. today.
In the morning, specialized media assured that there are no more talks between the leaders of the parliamentary benches, and the details are being finalized before the rapporteur of the law, Felipe Carreras, presents the definitive text to be debated in the afternoon.
In order to bring the project to a vote, the rules of procedure indicate that 257 deputies must be online since the plenary sessions will be held virtually until after the Carnival recess, as stipulated by Arthur Lira. Once the necessary quorum is reached, only a simple majority is required, in a single round, to obtain its approval.
It should be noted that the Chamber of Deputies approved on December 16, 2021, the request for urgency for the bill to be voted by the plenary, with 293 votes in favor, 138 against, and 11 abstentions. If similar support is repeated, the bill would easily obtain approval.
If approved, the Chamber immediately submits the bill to the Senate, which may make changes or keep unchanged what was decided by the deputies. If it decides to make changes, the bill would return to the Lower House to be analyzed and approved or not.
After the House and Senate approvals, the presidential sanction of the law will be necessary, and it is there where the PL would find an obstacle since Jair Bolsonaro announced that he would veto the measure, because “gambling is not welcomed in Brazil”.
If the president applies his veto power, it will be up to Congress to decide whether or not to override this decision. There, again, the votes of the majority of the legislators will be necessary to reverse the veto, and only then, if the necessary support is reached, the bill would become law.
