Brazil is once again mulling gambling legalization, lawmakers in the cash-strapped country into the midst of economic devastation scrambling to find ways to finance the federal government without placing extra tariffs on citizens.

The Brazilian Senate Commission for Regional Development and Tourism voted this week and only Bill 186 of 2014, legislation that would authorize up to 35 land-based gambling enterprises and permit gambling enterprises to commence operations online.

Casinos are prohibited in the country since 1946.

Illegal gambling in Brazil is estimated become a nearly $5 billion industry that is annual and legislators affirm tapping into that market is necessary to offset a dismal financial year for the country. Moody Investors Service recently downgraded Brazil to ‘Junk Status’ citing an economy that is rapidly deteriorating ‘worsening governability.’

Public Opinion

Legalizing gambling and Web gambling enterprises appears to be a viable solution to make up at least part of the mounting budget deficit. Persuading residents to get behind gambling might be a more task that is difficult in other countries.

Brazilians associate gambling with corruption, many thinking the venues to be nothing a lot more than resources from criminal syndicates to meet and exchange monies.

‘ You talk about gaming and people think about fraud, money laundering, addiction and mafia,’ Sao Paulo lawyer Luiz Felipe Maia told Reuters.

Neymar Jr, the country’s most famed soccer star of belated, signed a sponsorship deal with PokerStars in 2015. That may help replace the overall opinion of poker and gambling on the list of newer generation.

On the other hand, it might not.

Brazil is currently seeking Neymar on claims of tax evasion. Judge Carlos Muta affirmed in September that the athlete owes Brasilia very nearly $16 million in taxes stemming from 2011 to 2013.

Not Enough Far Too Late

It is not tough to understand Moody’s labeling of ‘worsening governability’ in Brazil, the globe’s fifth-largest nation by area. Deciding to potentially legalize gambling now comes at a fairly strange and perhaps baffling time.

Less than 18 months ago, the country played host towards the most active and profitable event that is sporting planet Earth: the entire world Cup.

The 2014 month-long competition generated an estimated $130 billion in legal and illegal bets around the world. Brazil profited zero dollars on that colossal pot.

Of course, Brazil does have another spectacle that is international its way by means of the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, hosting the wintertime or Summer Games tends to place strains that are financial presenting countries.

‘They have governmental and economic difficulties,’ International Olympic Committee Vice President Craig Reedie said recently to the Associated Press. ‘They have challenges. I think they and we will have to get through it.’

Given that Bill 186 has passed committee, the proposition shall head towards the Senate’s general assembly. Then off to President Dilma Rousseff’s desk for her signature, assuming she isn’t impeached before its arrival if approved, it would next make its way to the House of Representatives for endorsement and.

Crown Resorts’ Vegas Project a high-risk gamble for packer