Bolsonaro signs bill that creates lotteries for health and tourism

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) sanctioned this Wednesday (21) the bill that authorizes the federal government to create health and tourism lotteries and opens the possibility for these new games to be explored by the private sector.

The bill that provides for the new lotteries was definitively approved by the National Congress at the end of August. Its initial objective would be to generate additional revenue for the health and tourism sectors, by funding initiatives aimed at mitigating the effects of the new coronavirus pandemic.

Therefore, after the payment of premiums and the payment of taxes and social security, the remaining resources will be allocated, respectively, to the National Health Fund and to Embratur (Brazilian Agency for the International Promotion of Tourism).

The proposal initially provided that the contests for the two lotteries would be carried out by Caixa Econômica Federal. However, during the process in the Senate, a provision was included that allows these new lotteries to be granted to the private sector.

The text authorizes the concession to the private initiative of the operation of lotteries and the adoption of sports forecasts, fixed-odds bets and numerical forecasts.

Bolsonaro vetoed only one of the articles of the bill, which established a period of 30 days for the Ministry of Economy to create the rules for granting the exploitation of the two lotteries. The Chief Executive argued that the provision was unconstitutional.

Also this Wednesday (21), the president sanctioned a bill of conversion – a provisional measure that was amended by the National Congress – that creates a program that makes the work regime for fathers and mothers with children up to six years more flexible.

The text also creates lines of credit for entrepreneurs and reimburses for day care and babysitting expenses.

The sanction included a device that provoked controversy during its processing in the National Congress, as it removes the obligation of companies to maintain places for the babies of their employees who are still breastfeeding.

The sanctioned text establishes the program “Employs + Women and Youth”, whose objective, according to the government, is to insert and keep these people in the job market.

The program, sent to Congress as an interim measure, was a government bid to increase its popularity among the female audience. In search of reelection, Jair Bolsonaro faces high rejection and difficulties in getting the female vote.

One of the measures foreseen in the program is the authorization for the creation of a daycare reimbursement, which also applies to expenses with preschool and babysitting, as long as the service is proven. The values ​​will still need to be regulated by an act of the federal government.

Male and female employees may apply for the benefit if they have children under the age of six. It will be up to employers to inform and explain the existence of benefits to their employees.

Companies with more than 30 employees that adopt daycare reimbursement will no longer need to install appropriate places, such as nurseries, to assist the children of their employees during the breastfeeding period. The availability of these places was foreseen in the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).

SEE WHAT THE EMPLOYS + WOMEN PROGRAM PROVIDES

• Payment of daycare reimbursement or reimbursement of expenses with babysitters, provided they are proven
• Benefit may be granted to maids or employees who have children up to 5 years and 11 months of age.
• It exempts companies with more than 30 employees that adopt the daycare reimbursement benefit from installing an appropriate place for babies
• Priority in teleworking, part-time work, special workday compensation regime through a bank of hours for fathers and mothers with children up to 6 years old
• Authorizes anticipation of individual vacations for fathers and mothers with children up to 6 years old
• Sets flexible check-in and check-out times for parents with children up to 6 years old
• The same priorities should be given to parents of children with disabilities – in this case, there is no age restriction.
• Self-employed women will be entitled to a credit line of up to R$2,000, while individual micro-entrepreneurs may receive up to R$5,000
• Measures to combat sexual harassment, such as the inclusion of rules of conduct regarding harassment and other forms of violence in the company’s internal rules