John Gonzales and other Save Garapan members oppose House Bill 23-85.
Save Garapan members believe that H.B. 23-85 could result in a proliferation of gambling in Garapan.
SAVE Garapan, a community organization, is inviting the public to sign a petition opposing House Bill 23-85, which would allow businesses that cumulatively own more than 100 hotel rooms to engage in electronic gaming.
H.B. 23-85 was proposed by Ralph Yumul as a way to “augment” the electronic gambling industry’s ability to “bolster the CNMI’s economy.”
The casino gaming industry on Saipan was established by Public Law 18-30, which also allowed hotels with at least 100 rooms or hotels with golf courses to operate casino-style electronic gambling.
H.B. 23-85 notes that some businesses on Saipan operate multiple hotels but cannot offer electronic gambling because their individual hotel properties do not have at least 100 rooms.
H.B. 23-85 would allow such businesses to operate electronic gambling in a hotel with less than 100 rooms, so long as the business owns more than one hotel and meets the minimum room requirement “cumulatively.”
However, only hotels in western Garapan qualify for the exclusion from the 100-room minimum requirement of P.L. 18-30.
At a press conference held on Thursday in Garapan, Save Garapan member John Gonzales said H.B. 23-85 would only result in a “proliferation of gambling machines throughout Garapan.”
He said most of the tourists visiting the CNMI are Korean families, and they do not appear to be using the current electronic gambling machines already available to the public.
“I think if we’re talking about capturing a market of those that would be playing casino gambling…the data is undisputedly clear that that market has yet to be realized,” Gonzales said.
He said prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, tourists from the island’s source markets — Japan, Korea, and China — could be seen at the IPI casino. But today, he added, most of those who play in gambling establishments are from the CNMI.
Gonzales said Save Garapan does not oppose gambling outright, adding that he supports “diversifying” the economy.
But because H.B. 23-85 is a “tourism-centric” bill, it ought to help contribute to improving the island as a tourist destination, Gonzales said.
He said lowering the number of hotel rooms required to run an electronic gambling establishment is a “lowering of standards.”
He invites the public to go to Save Garapan’s Facebook page to sign the petition or support the movement.
