IN anticipation of any ruling that may come out of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings involving Imperial Pacific International, the Commonwealth Casino Commission has submitted a $3.1 million budget request for fiscal year 2026.
The FY 2025 budget allocated a dollar to the CCC, but its revised version, Public Law 24-1, allotted $250,000 for the commissioners’ back pay. The Office of the Attorney General, however, stopped Finance from remitting the money, saying it is “contrary to the law and cannot be allocated or processed.”
The commission disputes the OAG’s advice to Finance.
During their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, the commission chairman, Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, in his report, mentioned the FY 2026 budget submission, but their legal counsel, Assistant Attorney General Lucy Blanco-Maratita, wanted to discuss the matter in an executive session or closed-door meeting.
Also present in the meeting were the CCC vice chairman, Ralph S. Demapan, and Commissioner Mario Taitano.
Prior to the meeting, Deleon Guerrero submitted to Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Senate President Dennis James C. Mendiola and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez a budget request in the amount of $2,343,566 for personnel and $806,434 for “all others.”
Deleon Guerrero said the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings involving IPI in the District Court for NMI, “are coming to a conclusion.” Depending on the outcome, he said, “the Commission must be prepared to resume full operations of our casino regulatory responsibilities.”
The hiring and training of needed staff will be a priority, he added.
He said the $3.1 million budget submission is a product of considerable deliberations, aiming to enable CCC to accomplish its duties and responsibilities effectively and efficiently as mandated by Public Law 18-56, which legalized casino gaming on Saipan, as amended by P.L. 19-24 and P.L. 21-38.
Deleon Guerrero said the CCC is cognizant of the current state of the CNMI’s gaming industry and the need to revisit and amend the laws. In this matter, he said, the commission has submitted numerous recommendations on how the Commonwealth can move forward with the casino industry.
“Although there are uncertainties on what [the] next courses of action should be, the Commission must remain in existence throughout the process,” he said.
If, for instance, the Legislature decides favorably on the proposal to allow internet casino in the CNMI, Deleon Guerrero said the CCC would require significant resources to regulate sports betting, online gambling and other wagering, which rely on events occurring within or without the casinos regulated by the commission. He said this requires new regulations, and the commission will have to start anew by rehiring employees and providing them proper training.
He said the CCC is asking for 50 full-time employees, the same number of employees it had in previous annual appropriations.
Under P.L. 18-56, the commission is supposed to be funded by the annual regulatory fee collected from the lone license holder, Imperial Pacific International. For nearly five years, however, IPI has failed to meet its obligations to the CNMI government and is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings in federal court.
