The Brazilian Senate Plenary rejected the urgency request for Bill 2234/22, which proposes the legalization of casinos in resorts, bingo halls and jogo do bicho in Brazil. The vote took place on Wednesday night (17), with 36 senators voting against and 28 in favor of processing the proposal. One of the parliament’s strategies to determine if a matter can be approved is the urgency test. If the request is rejected, it means that there are not enough votes to consider the merits of the bill.
Request No. 857 of 2024, initiated by party leaders, sought to prioritize the analysis of the matter in the legislative calendar. The session was attended by 65 senators, including the president of the House, with no abstentions recorded in the roll-call vote. Parliamentarians who support the approval of Bill 2234/22 will have to wait for a new opportunity to schedule the proposal for debate by the Senate president.
With this result, the bill dealing with the legalization of gambling will follow the normal procedural rules of the Federal Senate, without priority treatment. Bill 2234/22 contemplates the regulation of different types of gambling, including casinos integrated into tourist complexes, bingo halls, and the jogo do bicho (a type of illegal lottery).
The eight-vote difference between the opposing and supporting groups in the vote on the urgency request indicates the division of opinions on the issue among the House’s parliamentarians.
The potential consideration of the proposal occurred at a time when there is a search for alternatives to increase tax revenue. Proponents argue that the approval of Bill 2234/22 could represent an important source of national and international investments, new tax revenues, and thousands of jobs.
Senators disagree on the proposal.
Senator Eduardo Girão (NOVO-CE) expressed concern about the possibility of the bill being voted on. During a speech on the floor, he recounted a previous conversation with the Senate President, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), about the semi-presential work week.
“I don’t believe that President Davi Alcolumbre will break something that he even told me about, although other colleagues are saying that we are going to have this negative surprise at the last minute before the recess,” declared Girão, who opposes the project.
On the other hand, Senator Irajá Silvestre (PSD-TO), rapporteur of the proposal, defends the regulation. In a statement, he affirmed: “The regulation of Responsible Gaming is the way to control and oversee a segment that operates outside the law and fails to collect 20 billion in taxes for Brazilians and the country.”
The rapporteur cited as an example the state of New York in the United States, where licenses were granted for the construction of three casinos, representing investments exceeding US$9 billion and the potential to generate US$7 billion in specific gaming taxes.
A DataSenado survey, conducted between February 21 and March 1, 2025 with 5.039 citizens, revealed that 60% of respondents are in favor of legalizing gambling, while 34% declared themselves against it. The survey, with an average margin of error of 1,72 percentage points, also showed that three out of four Brazilians consider the current ban on gambling and casinos to be ineffective.