By Emmanuel T. Erediano
emmanuel@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
THE Tinian and Aguigan Legislative Delegation on Tuesday unanimously passed Senate Local Bill 24-3, suspending the compensation of Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission members.
Present at the delegation session in the Senate chamber at 1:30 p.m. were its chair, Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider, Senate President Karl King-Nabors, Sen. Frank Q. Cruz, and Rep. Patrick San Nicolas.
All voted to pass S.L.B. 24-3, which was authored by Hofschneider, King-Nabors, and Cruz. Each member of the Tinian casino regulatory body receives $55,000 annually.
The local bill seeks to amend the Tinian casino law by inserting the following language:
“…provided that if there is no appropriation due to lack of funds, the annual compensation of the commissioners shall be suspended until funding is available and approved by appropriation, and instead the commissioners shall receive compensation of no more than $60 for a full-day meeting and no more than $30 for a half-day or shorter meeting.”
S.L.B. 24-3 also seeks to prohibit retroactive annual compensation payments after the commissioners’ salaries are suspended.
Tinian Diamond Hotel and Casino shut down in December 2024. Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino, which operated on Tinian for many years, closed 10 years ago following a raid by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which imposed a $75 million civil money penalty on its owner, Hong Kong Entertainment Investments.
According to S.L.B. 24-3, the Tinian Casino Gaming Commission is primarily funded by annual license fees paid by casino operators. Without these fees, “there is no funding source for the compensation of the commissioners.”
