Tenorio hopes to conduct public hearings for House Bills 17-55 and 17-56 within the next four months and have them passed into law thereafter.
“We know very well that we need to generate revenues. We don’t want to reduce employees’ hours or lay off [workers],” he said during the House session.
Both bills were referred to the House Committees on Ways and Means, and Commerce and Tourism.
To become law, they must also be passed by the Senate, which is dominated by Rota and Tinian.
Both have already legalized casino gambling.
Tinian’s casino, which opened in 1998, is still struggling, while Rota still has to open a casino.
Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, said at least one serious foreign businessman is willing to invest $100 million in a Saipan casino.
He said the casino industry will be an added attraction for tourists who are looking for something else to do on island.
Saipan residents, however, have twice rejected casino proposals.
Tenorio envisions Saipan to become a “mini-gambling Mecca” of the Pacific.
“The only thing that can revive our economy is the casino. Without the casino here on Saipan, our revenue will continue to decline which means we will continue to downsize the government. Right now, for example, we’re already working on cutting the hours of government employees by 10 percent,” Tenorio said in a previous interview.
Critics of the casino industry said it will only create more socio-economic problems for the CNMI.
