Senate approves Lottery Bill that legalizes sports betting.

The Senate plenary approved this Wednesday (21) the provisional measure that allocates part of the resources collected from sports and federal lotteries to the National Public Security Fund (FNSP). The proposal ( MP 846/2018 ) also restructures the financing of various sectors from lottery funds, such as sports and culture.

The Provisional Measure was issued in August as a new version of Provisional Measure 841/2018 , which had been issued in June and was no longer valid. The new text emerged from an agreement between the Ministries of Culture and Sports, following pressure from entities in both sectors, since the previous Provisional Measure reduced lottery revenue transfers to these areas in order to increase resources for the National Public Security Fund (FNSP).

Since the provisional measure underwent modifications during its passage through the National Congress, the new text will now go to the President for approval.

According to the president of the Senate, Eunício Oliveira, the vote on the text had the support of the current Minister of Public Security, Raul Jungmann, and the future Minister of Justice (who will also be responsible for the area of ​​security), Sérgio Moro.

Destinations

From the revenue collected from sports lotteries, the Provisional Measure establishes the transfer of 11,49% to the National Sports Fund (FNSP) this year and 2% from 2019 onwards. The fund will also receive 5% of the resources from federal lotteries in 2018 and 2,22% from next year. For the National Culture Fund (FNC), the transfer will be 1% of the resources from sports lotteries. From the resources of federal lotteries, culture will also receive 0,5% from next year. The FNC will also receive 0,4% of the resources from Lotex (a Brazilian lottery game).

The Provisional Measure also establishes that the Ministry of Sport's share of sports lottery revenue will be 10% in 2018, falling to 3,1% from 2019 onwards. The Brazilian Olympic Committee's (COB) share is fixed at 1,63%, while the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) will receive 0,96% of the sports lottery resources. The Provisional Measure allocates 37,61% of the prize money to sports lottery prizes until the end of 2018 and 55% from next year onwards.

The federal government anticipates that the Lottery Provisional Measure will guarantee the annual transfer of approximately R$ 1 billion to public security, R$ 630 million to sports, and R$ 443 million to culture.

News

The rapporteur for the provisional measure was Senator Flexa Ribeiro (PSDB-PA). He said that the changes added to the text make the proposal even more advanced.

According to the formula approved by Congress, the resources of the National Public Security Fund (FNSP) cannot be subject to budget cuts. The fund must allocate at least 50% of its reserves to states and municipalities. In the case of states, if there is a specific fund for the federative unit, the funds may be allocated directly, without going through the Treasury.

Another addition highlighted by Flexa was the guarantee that between 10% and 15% of the FNSP (National Public Security Fund) will finance housing programs and improvements in the quality of life for public security professionals.

"There has never been that concern. They are protecting the lives of all of us," said the senator.

The bill also benefits two social entities: annually, the revenue from two Loteria Esportiva (Sports Lottery) contests must go to the National Federation of Associations of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Children (Fenapaes) and to the Red Cross. In the report, Flexa allocates the revenue from three contests per year to social entities, including the National Federation of Pestalozzi Associations (Fenapestalozzi) as a beneficiary.

Flexa also addresses the distribution percentages of the proceeds from specific lottery predictions, benefiting areas such as public safety, health, and the National Fund for the Rights of Children and Adolescents. Another change in the report was the requirement that between 10% and 15% of the FNSP's lottery resources be mandatorily applied to housing programs benefiting public safety professionals or to programs improving the quality of life of these same professionals.

Education

The rapporteur also proposes the establishment of a lottery modality called fixed-odds betting — which may occur in physical or electronic format. For state, district, and municipal education secretariats, Flexa suggests transferring 1% of the revenue from fixed-odds lotteries when the bet is placed in physical format, and 0,75% when placed virtually. The amount will be transferred to schools that have achieved the established goals for the results of national basic education assessments, according to an act of the Ministry of Education.

The report also establishes that the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), without prejudice to the analysis of the annual accounts of public resource managers, must oversee the application of resources allocated to the COB, CPB, Fenaclubes, and other entities linked to sports.

Vote against

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (Rede-AP) declared his vote against Provisional Measure 846. The reason was a provision that includes the sale of virtual tickets in the revenue collection. Randolfe said he understands that this represents the regulation of online gambling . As he could not highlight the specific passage, the senator said he preferred to reject the proposal in its entirety.