“We’re experiencing a cash-flow problems that makes it difficult for the funding of these scholarship programs,” the lawmaker said.
Bennett staged a one-man protest action on Monday outside the government’s office to demand the timely release of scholarship checks.
Palacios reiterated what Press Secretary Angel Demapan said Monday about the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program: it is based on poker fee collections.
When asked about Bennett’s claim that the Saipan casino proposal is the reason for the delay in the issuance of scholarship checks, Palacios said the casino is not part of this issue.
SHEFA funding, he added, depends on the amount of poker license fees collected by the government.
Palacios said “if we do pass the casino proposal, poker businesses may lose income, and as a result, we’ll need to appropriate casino-generated income for SHEFA.”
Poker projection
In a separate interview, Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, noted that in fiscal year 2009, 608 poker machines were projected, but only the licenses of 583 machines were renewed.
He added that in the current fiscal year, the government is expecting 583 machines, but as of April, there are only 389 machines registered.
When asked about the delay in the issuance of SHEFA checks, Yumul said the government also has to endure “low cash collections and delayed paychecks.”
Yumul said in the past, SHEFA had a balance in its local account to cover the students’ first semester tuition, but the Department of Finance is now releasing checks on a monthly basis because poker license fees are not being renewed on time.
He said on Saipan, a poker license fee costs $12,000 and half of the amount goes to SHEFA.
