Brazilian Congressional Committee Approves Lottery Funding Proposal for Disaster Relief Fund

Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has advanced a proposal that would allow part of federal lottery revenue to support the country’s disaster relief fund, strengthening the link between lottery proceeds and emergency response financing.

A committee in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that would allocate lottery revenue to the National Fund for Public Calamities, Protection and Civil Defense, known as Funcap. The proposal would allow the fund to receive, once a year, the net revenue from one draw of a numerical lottery product, such as Mega-Sena or Quina.

The measure was approved by the Chamber’s Finance and Taxation Committee and would remain in force for five years. The text approved by lawmakers is a substitute version of Senate Bill 580/2019. The original proposal sought to allocate 1% of total lottery revenue to Funcap, but the revised version changed the model in order to avoid reducing prize payments to lottery players.

Under the approved version, the amount transferred to the fund would be calculated as net revenue from a specific lottery draw. This means the total collected from bets would be reduced by lottery operating costs, prize payments and taxes before the remaining amount is directed to Funcap.

The fund is used to support civil defense actions and emergency assistance for populations affected by public calamities and disasters. Supporters of the proposal argue that lottery revenue can provide an additional, predictable source of financing for disaster response without creating a new tax burden.

The proposal still has further steps before becoming law. It will now be examined by the Chamber’s Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee. Final approval by Congress is still required before the new funding mechanism can be implemented.

For Brazil’s lottery sector, the initiative highlights the continued use of lottery proceeds as a tool for financing public-interest programmes. As climate-related emergencies and natural disasters become a growing concern, the proposal could give Brazil another mechanism to connect regulated lottery activity with social and emergency support.