The Ministry of Culture is preparing a legal amendment to try to unlock about US$ 106 million destined annually to the National Fund of Culture for revenue from the federal lotteries.
The minister wants to present a proposal to be submitted by the National Congress in January, in the form of a Provisional Measure or Bill, to change the way in which the lottery revenues are applied to the sector. The project has already been debated with the president Michel Temer.
According to Leitão, currently 3% of the lottery (about US$ 106 million per year) leaves the Caixa Econômica Federal to the account of the National Fund of Culture, but they have traditionally ended up as a contingent to help in the fiscal balance with surplus.
"We need to create a way for these historically contingent resources to be allocated directly from Caixa to Brazilian cultural production. It would be the largest program of direct promotion of culture ever made. The president welcomed this idea very well, and I promised to present this proposal by the end of January. We will need change in law and the support of Congress," said the minister.
Sérgio Sá Leitão told Estadão/Broadcastque that the idea is to approve in Congress a kind of "Agnelo / Piva Law" of Culture. "The idea is to have something similar in Culture. The resources go from Caixa to public selection notices for cultural resources and to the winners of these processes. It will be one of our flagships in 2018."
Currently, Caixa transfers amounts collected with the lotteries to the National Culture Fund, which works through the fiscal waiver; in 2016, were more than US$ 109 million. The National Penitentiary Fund, the National Health Fund, the Student Financing Program (FIES), Social Security and the national sport are also beneficiaries.
With the law, the Ministry of Sport was able to unlock its stamped revenues from lotteries and pass on amounts collected directly to fund confederations.
Source: GMB
