GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres on Monday signed into law House Local Bill 22-28 to amend Saipan Local Law 22-6, which increased electronic gaming license fees.
Authored by House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul, H.L.B. 22-28 is now Saipan Local Law 22-13.
It addresses the concern of the island’s remaining electronic gaming companies, MP Holdings LLC and Marianas Entertainment LLC, which sued the CNMI government over last year’s enactment of S.L.L. 22-6.
The local law was passed by the delegation without conducting a public hearing or soliciting the comments of the affected companies.
It doubled the e-gaming license fee, imposed an additional fee of $2,500 or 15% of net gaming proceeds, whichever is greater, on all electronic gaming devices on Saipan, including poker amusement machines located within e-gaming facilities or hotels.
The e-gaming companies said the law would shut down their businesses and put their local employees out of work.
After a series of meetings with the representatives of MP Holdings LLC and Marianas Entertainment LLC, Yumul and the House Gaming Committee came up with H.B. 22-28, which, according to MP Holdings manager Bart Jackson, was a “well-thought-out” bill.
He thanked the Saipan delegation for being “very receptive” to the comments and concerns of the electronic gaming operators.
MP Holdings operates Saipan Vegas in Chalan Kiya while Marianas Entertainment operates Club 88 in Garapan.
The new local law, S.L.L. 22-13, imposes an annual local license fee equal to $2,000 on each poker amusement machine located within e-gaming facilities or hotels; on each electronic gaming machine or electronic table game as defined in 6 CMC Section 3154 (a)(4); and also on such machines and games situated in a hotel pursuant to 6 CMC Section 3156(b), within the Third Senatorial District.
The e-gaming license fees collected will be appropriated by the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation to subsidize the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program “should the obligation to SHEFA student scholarship account and the SHEFA operations account drop below their current levels ($3 million and $200,000) due to the shortage in poker fee collections and/or any other allocations for SHEFA.”
