Brazilian deputies Capitão Wagner and Guilherme Mussi have unveiled a project to create a Health Lottery, aiming at expanding the local game offering to raise revenue that would be invested in the health campaign against COVID-19.
According to local media BNL Data, the project made some progress this week by obtaining a favourable opinion from Deputy Giovani Cherini, rapporteur of the plenary of PL 1561/20.
Furthermore, Cherini added in his opinion that a “Tourism Lottery” could also be created, which would seek new sources of revenue to finance a sector that has been severely hit by the pandemic. Thus, the revenues from the new lottery would be directed to the General Tourism Fund (Fungetur) to finance the tourism sector.
The project establishes that the new national lottery modalities will be authorized to operate while the pandemic lasts and as long as the government maintains the “State of Public Calamity”, which was approved through a Legislative Decree.
Now, the Ministry of Economy needs to approve the project, set how draws will be executed, their frequency, and set the prizes and tax collection, as well as establishing other regulations related to the new lotteries.
Additionally, the plenary session of the Brazilian Senate approved project PL 5,638/2020, which allocates 3% of the Caixa and Lotex lotteries’ revenues in 2021 to the National Tourism Program.
The project must be signed by President Jair Bolsonaro in order to come into force. Although the Senate government leader Fernando Bezerra Coelho guarantees that Bolsonaro supports the approval, the president could veto Article 20-A in order not to use the lottery money in this program.
