Brazil’s Senate recently approved a bill that would authorize new lottery products to fund the tourism and health industries. However, that’s as far as it got, although it could make progress this week.
The bill creates two new lotteries to finance actions against COVID-19 in the areas of health and tourism. However, it is not advancing in the Chamber of Deputies. It was on the schedule for discussion last Monday, but slipped in priority.
It’s possible that the bill receives attention this week. However, it would still need a few more signatures before becoming law. The proposal to create the new lotteries started over a year ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Resources for Tourism
The proposal consists of the creation of the Health Lottery and the Tourism Lottery. These would allocate their resources, respectively, to the National Health Fund (FNS, for its Portuguese acronym) and the Brazilian Agency for the International Promotion of Tourism (Embratur, for its Portuguese acronym). The programs would receive both the revenue from the sale of the game and unclaimed prizes.
The Ministries of Health and Tourism would operate both lottery games. However, the Ministry of Economy would regulate those operations. The delay means that localized lotteries can begin to attract attention that will force the new national lottery products to enter the competition late.
The author of the bill, Senator Weverton, asserts that the bill will “contribute to strengthening the budget” following the damage the COVID-19 pandemic caused. He emphasized that the tourism industry was particularly impacted, and it needs to have an additional source of revenue to combat any future downturns.
In the case of the Health Lottery, the money must be allocated exclusively to actions to prevent and combat COVID-19. The priority is the purchase of supplies and vaccines. This rule is valid for the duration of the public health emergency because of the pandemic.
Embratur must apply the resources of the Tourism Lottery to specific causes. It must invest in measures to mitigate the effects of the pandemic in the sector and, after the end of the pandemic, fund credit operations for companies.
In the bill’s original version, the Tourism Lottery was only a temporary initiative that would operate only until the end of the year. In addition, its resources would go to the General Tourism Fund (Fungetur, for its Portuguese acronym). The new text makes this draw permanent and sends the money to Embratur.
Brazilian Sports Get Lottery Support
The Sports Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved Bill 5714/19 last week. The legislation authorizes sports entities that receive funds from lotteries to enter into cooperation agreements to carry out common projects. In turn, it is necessary that the funds compose the budget of the beneficiary entity, which would be responsible for implementation, monitoring, and accountability.
The text modifies Law 13.756/18, which established regulations for the distribution of the percentages. Through it, the beneficiary was responsible for the execution, monitoring and accountability of the securities.
The measure, according to its sponsors, benefits the Brazilian Olympic Committee, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, the Brazilian Club Committee, the Brazilian Confederation of School Sports, the Brazilian Confederation of University Sports and the National Federation of Sports Clubs. The project will be analyzed by the Finance and Taxation Commissions and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.
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