GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Friday vetoed Senate Local Bill 24-1, which would allow internet gaming on Tinian and create a “Tinian stable token.”
The governor cited the advice of Attorney General Edward Manibusan, who said that the Tinian and Aguiguan Legislative Delegation lacks the authority to enact legislation that would regulate a matter “that is not exclusively a local matter or an activity that can be clearly restricted to the Second Senatorial District [Tinian], as provided in 1 CMC [Section] 1402 and in Article II, Section 6 of the CNMI Constitution.”
The governor said that according to the AG, S.L.B. 24-1 “attempts to authorize and regulate internet gaming, allow for the issuance of internet gaming licenses, and allow the use of digital payment systems through the use of the internet, which, by its nature, facilitates transactions across jurisdictional boundaries.”
As such, the governor said, the bill does not regulate a local matter.
He said that according to the AG, the bill “lacks any requirement for robust technical verification measures to effectively limit the activity to the boundaries of the Second Senatorial District, nor does it restrict the issuance of an internet gaming license to a physical location within the Second Senatorial District.”
The governor said there is also no assurance that enforcement resources will be funded strictly by local funds derived from the regulated gambling industry.
In addition, he said, the bill does not provide for robust enforcement measures to prevent illegal gaming activities. It does not provide for fines, license revocations, or other legal sanctions to strengthen enforcement, Palacios said, adding that internet gaming is particularly fluid, volatile and difficult to track and regulate.
He noted that S.L.B. 24-1 proposes to create a separate internet gaming license category and does not require internet gaming license applicants to make a deposit for a suitability investigation, unlike applicants for a brick-and-mortar casino license under existing law.
The nominal application fee and annual license fee do not provide adequate resources for enforcement and investigatory efforts to prevent money laundering and other unlawful activity, Palacios said.
“These vulnerabilities could result in the Commonwealth-wide resources being expended to mitigate CNMI-wide harms and would not be contained within Tinian only,” he added.
Authored by Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider and co-sponsored by Senate Vice President Karl King-Nabors and Sen. Frank Q. Cruz, S.L.B. 24-1 was passed by the Tinian delegation on March 12, 2025.
When asked for comment, Hofschneider said he would issue a statement once he had reviewed the governor’s veto message.
