House Local Bill 17-33 was riddled with several amendments before the 18 members passed it unanimously.
Republican Saipan Sen. Ralph DLG Torres, Covenant Saipan Reps. Froilan C. Tenorio and Edmund S. Villagomez were absent.
Authored by Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, H.L.B 17-33 went through a lot of contentious deliberations as members scrambled for portions of poker money that the government may not be able to collect.
Expecting a total of 585 poker machines that will be licensed for fiscal year 2011 the delegation’s Ways and Means Committee projected $3.5 million in revenue.
The delegation plans to allot $3 million of this to the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program and the rest will go to various projects on Saipan.
But according to Yumul, 21 of these poker machines had not been renewed as of March.
Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, said from March to the present month, there were 49 poker machines that had yet to be renewed. This is a loss of $294,000 in revenue, he added.
This means, Cabrera said, the appropriation is going to be way higher than the actual poker revenue.
Yumul, in an interview, said it is “highly likely that the governor will line-item veto some of the programs.”
Obviously, he added, the number of licensed machines continues to dwindle.
The bill’s original version allotted only $3,394,000 which House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente, R-Saipan, said provided “a cushion” since they were hoping for $3.5 million.
However, some members who wanted to fund the “urgently needed” projects of their precincts immediately went after this “cushion.”
Rep. Raymond M. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, wanted $50,000 allotted for the Northern Marianas Trade Institute.
Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan, said the $10,000 that was supposed to go to the Saipan Fishing Derby and the $5,000 that was originally for the 30th Division of Youth Services anniversary celebration should fund the Northern Islands Economic Summit this September.
The $15,000, she added, will serve as “seed money” for the economic development projects in the remote Northern Islands.
Only 12 delegation members voted to pass her amendment.
Saipan Republican Reps. Francisco S. Dela Cruz, Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero, Tony P. Sablan and Ramon A. Tebuteb, the delegation chairman, voted no, while Rep. Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan, abstained.
Rep. Joseph M. Palacios, R-Saipan, wanted the $5,000 earlier allotted to the Saipan & Northern Islands Soil and Water Conservation District provided to the CNMI Boy Scouts Summer Camp instead.
He said the soil and water conservation district gets federal funding.
Tebuteb, for his part, wants $10,000 for the CNMI’s participation in the Pacific Games.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan, said the Saipan Fishing Derby should still get $10,000.
Dela Cruz sought an additional $5,000 for the 30th Flame Tree Arts Festival, which will now get $25,000.
The additional money, he said, will pay for insurance which American Memorial Park requires.
All these amendments were adopted.
Yumul said from the original $3.394 million, the spending measure they passed amounted to $3.469 million.
