Legislation
Brazil – Deputy proposes Brazilian amendment to boost security
By Phil - 22 December 2016
Brazilian Deputy Silas Freire has put forward a proposal to the Parliamentary Front for Public Security whereby 10 to 20 per cent of tax income generated by a new gaming industry would be allocated to the National Public Security Fund.
New gaming legislation currently under debate in the Chamber of Deputies would be amended to include the new rules. The National Public Security Fund would receive the resources and would in turn pass them on to the states, for the acquisition of equipment, the training of personnel as well as the improvement of salaries for police forces.
“In fact gaming already exists in Brazil, because casinos and bingos are running clandestinely they only serve to launder money and to evade in the foreign exchange market and because the government can not count on the taxes millions of reais are not collected,” Deputy
Silas Freire said. “If legalisation is carried out, it must definitely bring immediate benefit to the population. But what is one of the greatest needs of the population, as pointed out by all public opinion polls and in all regions of Brazil? Public safety . . .There is no money earmarked for public safety, the states support it with their revenues, so our police are bankrupt and do not have an adequate salary and there is no equipment even to oppose organised crime, which is often more equipped than the state.”
The new amendment could well find favour amongst other officials and the public, as security is an increasingly urgent issue in Brazil. According to a recent report by the Brazilian Forum for Public Security, more people died from violent crime in Brazil than in the Syrian conflict in 2015 and there were 58,383 violent deaths in Brazil that year alone. In the same year Brazil spent 11.6 per cent more on public safety than in 2014. However, this is still insufficient when it comes to tackling the rising ride of drug and gang related crime according to the the Brazilian Forum on Public Security.
Debate began this month on Brazil’s new gaming act with deputies in the lower house arguing fiercely both for and against the new bill. The text of the latest draft defines the types of gaming that can be played in Brazil, the criteria for how licences are to be granted and the rules for the distribution of prizes as well as how gaming is to be taxed in the future. A separate gaming law has also been drafted in the Senate and was scheduled for debate this month. However, Senators rejected the new law PLS 186/2014 which proposes the legalisation of casinos, bingo halls, slot parlours and the popular “Jogo do Bicho” or “Animal Game” voting that it be returned for further analysis to the House Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ).
