Discussion of Online Betting in Uruguay Delayed
After strong interest in furthering legislation regarding online gambling in the South American country, Uruguayan parliament has decided to postpone debate until next year. This is in part due to the fact that the original deadline for the project has now expired. They are on hold now until March 2023.
Uruguay’s online gaming bill will be postponed for further discussion until its parliament reopens in March 2023. MIKE STOLL/Unsplash
Missed deadlines in Uruguay
A “half sanction” was given by Uruguay’s Senate, which marked the first vital step for online gaming legislation to move forward in the nation. After that, the project was meant to be analyzed by Uruguay’s Finance Commission, a part of the Lower House of Parliament.
The commission had until November 30th to make its analysis, also allowing for time for various coalitions to suggest and resolve changes after debate. Rather than abide by the initial schedule however, debates and changes did not proceed. Instead, the work was postponed to 2023 when parliament resumes.
For those wondering about the reasoning of postponing such a highly discussed proposal, Álvaro Viviano, deputy of the National Party (PN) explained. He told a local news outlet that certain legislators found the analysis time insufficient and requested a longer period to work through the proposal. Two parties were especially keen to look further at the project, Cabildo Abierto (CA) and Broad Front (FA).
Varying viewpoints on development of the proposal
From Viviano’s point of view, the project was ready to move forward and he did not feel much more debate and modification was necessary. However, he admitted there is a slight conflict in that the version the Senate looked at is quite different from what is now being lobbied.
Still, Viviano asserts that the project has been analyzed thoroughly already and that those involved know what they are dealing with. He suggested that the commission should move on with it since many opinions have been gathered by this stage.
Cabildo Abierto supports creating a gaming regulation agency, which is part of the proposal.. They are also in favor of regulated sports betting. The party, speaking to local news, confirmed it is in favor of the proposal but with certain modifications they have put forth.
A deputy from the Colorado Party also spoke on the topic. Conrado Rodríguez, another commission member, shared that he generally supports the proposal and that there could be some small changes but that he does not anticipate a major overhaul at this stage. Rodríguez agreed with Viviano that the bill probably could have already seen a vote, perhaps with a slight change of wording.
Iván Posada of the Independent Party has the most dissenting opinion so far. Posada has been consistently opposed to the project, even as it was approved by the Senate. However, he did not make clear in a recent press statement what kind of modifications would be suitable for him to support the bill. Rather, he reiterated the need for more time for discussion.
In a similar vein, Sebastián Valdomir of the aforementioned Broad Front was vocal in his dissent. Again, like Posada, Valdomir’s concerns seem to be more fundamental to the project, rather than having specific qualms about improvements that could be made to the proposal.
Valdomir has expressed his deep disapproval, stating that money allocated towards the development of the agency would be better off given to treatment for problem gaming. It should be noted that such regulatory bills often do address problem gaming as well, with the allocation of funds and increased rules for gaming providers. It is unknown in this case how much Uruguay’s plan involves these discussions.
Based on what has been expressed by dissenting voices, it seems the issue of the delay may be more of a tactic to postpone the bill, rather than a necessary step for analysis, as many deputies are already firmly in favor. Whether its opponents can find any reason to permanently squash the bill is another question. The project has been rolling along well and it seems unlikely to be chucked out altogether.
