By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE House of Representatives, by an 11-4 vote, passed on Monday a measure imposing an additional tax on poker winnings to help the cash-strapped government raise more funds for the Public School System.
House Bill 15-240 now heads to the Senate which is scheduled to hold a session today in Tinian.
Those who voted against the bill’s passage were Manuel A. Tenorio, R-Saipan; Benjamin B. Seman, R-Saipan; Florencio T. Deleon Guerrero, D-Saipan; and Edwin P. Aldan, Covenant-Tinian.
Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, abstained while Martin B. Ada, R-Saipan, and Candido B. Taman, R-Saipan, were absent.
Authored by Vice Speaker Justo T. Quitugua, D-Saipan, H.B. 15-240 seeks to impose a 30 percent tax on jackpot winnings of $1,000 and over.
At least 10 percent of this is to be allocated to PSS and would be available as a continuing appropriation without further legislative appropriation.
Winnings of between $100 and $999 willl be assessed a 25 percent tax under H.B. 15-240.
This specific tax will be available as a continuing appropriation to buy student desks and classroom supplies.
H.B. 15-240 is actually H.B. 15-85 which then acting Gov. Felix T. Mendiola recalled in Nov. 2006 citing concerns over its impact on the struggling poker industry.
“It is with some reservation that I have decided to return the above-referenced bill for the Legislature’s further consideration. While there is no doubt about the need to enhance our government’s revenues, the taxes to be assessed under the bill should be very clear for ease of implementation and enforcement,” Mendiola, the Senate floor leader, said in his transmittal message to the Legislature recalling H.B. 15-85.
Since last year, poker owners have been required to pay a one-time annual license fee of $12,000 per machine.
Prior to the enactment of this rule, they were allowed to pay their license fees on an installment basis three times a year.
Last year, L&T, one of the pioneers in the local poker industry, announced it would shut down its arcades, citing the high cost of its operations and the economic meltdown of the islands as reasons.
A report from the Legislature shows there were 1,226 licensed poker machines on Saipan; 106 on Tinian; and 82 on Rota, as of last year.