The measure, which was introduced by Sen. Hokkons Baules, states that the Palau Election Commission should conduct a referendum on the entry of casinos within 45 days of the enactment of the Act.
The legislation also proposed the creation of a casino gaming commission.
The Senate voted 7-5 to send the bill, which was already passed by the House of Delegates, to President Johnson Toribiong for his approval.
Those in favor of the bill were Senate President Mlib Tmetuchl, Senators Baules, Regis Akitaya, Paul Ueki, Alfonso Diaz, Joel Toribiong and Regina Mesebeluu.
Those who voted against it were Sens. Surangel Whipps Jr. Kathy Kesolei, Mark Rudimch, Tommy Remengesau Jr. and Raynold Oilouch.
Whipps said the minority bloc members were “dismayed” by the outcome of the voting.
“We would have liked the Senate to adopt our position on casinos,” he added, referring to the expected “negative impact” that casinos will bring to society.
“There are positive things that casinos bring, but usually, based on the experiences of other countries, the negative impact far outweighs the positive impact,” he added.
“Casino dealings usually involve ‘dirty’ money. We do not want Palau to be awash with ‘dirty’ money and the vices that go along with it,” the senator said.
He fears that the outcome of the referendum will not reflect the true will of the people.
“Because no person is standing as a candidate this time, we believe that only a few people will go out and vote in the referendum,” he said.
Whipps said they expect a less than 50 percent turnout although only a majority of the votes cast are required to approve the legalization of casinos.
Palau has 15,000 registered voters.
“The tendency is that when you have such a low turnout, vote-buying usually occurs. We don’t want that to happen,” Whipps said.
“I am still hopeful that the president will veto the bill just like he did before,” he added.
