The rapporteur of the Senate version of the anti-gang bill, Senator Alessandro Vieira, wants to amend the text approved by the Lower House and create a fund to boost public security resources through a contribution levied on betting companies. According to the senator, the idea was well received on Wednesday (26) by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and Planning and Budget Minister Simone Tebet during a meeting on the topic.
“Both [Haddad and Tebet] believe that funding the fight against organized crime through bets is a good idea, and we are structuring that,” Vieira told Valor. The Finance and Planning ministries did not comment.
It has not yet been defined which tax contribution from betting companies would be allocated to public security. The rapporteur, however, is considering creating a new type of charge for these companies as his main option.
“The idea is to create a CIDE [Contribution for Intervention in the Economic Domain] for bets, directed exclusively to combating organized crime, establishing a fund with joint management by the states and the federal government and a strict list of allowable uses,” he said. The day before, he met with Chief Justice Edson Fachin to discuss the matter. “I want to have this ready by the end of the week so I can circulate it among colleagues and economic ministers,” he said.
CIDEs are contributions levied on specific sectors to enable state intervention when the federal government deems there is an imbalance. The revenue generated is earmarked for specific areas as a form of compensation.
The best-known CIDE is the one applied to the fuel sector. Revenue collected is used for projects related to the impacts of motor vehicles, such as road infrastructure or environmental programs.
However, the Senate is already debating a bill that increases the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) tax for betting companies, which could make it harder to approve a fund drawing from the same source. Under the text examined by the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) and reported by Senator Eduardo Braga, GGR taxation would rise to 18% by 2028 from 12% today.
The rapporteur wants to present his report on Tuesday (2), after a public hearing with specialists and public officials. The text is expected to be voted on in the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) the following day. If approved by the committee, it may go to the full Senate that same day, according to Vieira.
On another front, Vieira reiterated that he intends to reject the change introduced by Guilherme Derrite, rapporteur of the anti-gang bill in the Lower House, regarding the distribution of assets seized by security forces. In an interview with Valor, the senator had already said the bill would not take “a single cent” from the Federal Police.
Derrite’s text stated that assets seized in operations conducted by state civil police forces should be allocated to state (or district) security funds. In actions conducted exclusively by the Federal Police, the seized goods would go to the National Public Security Fund (FNSP). In joint operations involving federal and state forces, the resources would be shared.
The government also criticizes this change. Currently, resources seized in both federal and state operations are divided among three funds, depending on the crime committed: the National Anti-Drug Fund (FUNAD), the Federal Police Equipment and Operations Fund (Funapol), and the National Public Security Fund (FNSP).
The Federal Police determines the classification, but if the offense involves militia activity, the assets tend to go to the FNSP; if it is drug trafficking, they go to FUNAD; and if it is an organized criminal group, they go to Funapol. According to the senator, his report will restore this distribution.
