The Chamber of Deputies approved the request for urgency for the project that creates a national program to address gambling addiction.
With this, the Plenary accelerates the development of a national public policy to care for people with gambling and betting addiction.
This decision comes amid growing concern over the social impact of bets in Brazil and after President Lula spoke out against betting in the country.
Urgency accelerates the project’s progress
By approving the urgency regime for Bill 4,583/2024, authored by Deputy Ruy Carneiro, this will reduce the time needed to review the text, without going through all the committees.
The bill has already passed through the Health and Social Security committees and is now in the Finance and Taxation Committee so that amendments can be proposed over the next five sessions.
Because the topic has gained priority, the text’s new status also increases the chances of it being approved more quickly.
Key points of the proposal
Among the most relevant points of the proposal is the creation of the National Program for Comprehensive Assistance to People with Gambling Disorder.
Its main goal will be to offer comprehensive care to people with gambling addiction in order to prevent an increase in cases and treat those already facing the problem.
The project also aims to expand public policies on the topic and create specific prevention and guidance programs for children and adolescents.
Another aspect would be monitoring betting advertisements so that they are not directed at audiences under 18 years old.
Next steps
Since the project is already under urgency regime, it can be voted on in the plenary at any time.
For it to be approved, however, both the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate must approve the bill.
Then, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has up to 15 days to sanction it. Once it becomes law, both bettors and operators in the sector will be affected.
In the case of the bets market, companies will have to cooperate by providing data to identify gambling addiction behavior among users of their platforms.
This will allow for early identification of the problem, and the indicators could help the government develop public policies and disclose more accurate data on gambling addiction.