Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind-Rota, called this new provision “bribery” as he reiterated the Senate’s position that enacting a Saipan gambling law through a local bill is unconstitutional.
The Saipan delegation’s committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary and Governmental Operations came up with a final draft of House Local Bill 17-44 after a heated discussion in the House chamber on Wednesday.
The latest changes focused on the number of licenses to be issued, the investment cap, the powers of the gaming commission, and the beneficiaries of the gambling revenue.
Some Saipan lawmakers were not happy about some of these provisions of the bill but Reps. Stanley T. Torres and Froilan C. Tenorio said they will have to go along with the majority.
Torres, Ind.-Saipan, does not like the provision that gives indigenous-owned corporations special treatment but he said “we will have to deal with that later.”
Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, is unhappy with the provision that extends gambling revenue to Tinian and Rota, but he said “if that is what the majority wants, I will have to go along with them.”
According to the bill, casino taxes, fines and other fees deemed to be local revenues “shall be deposited in the commonwealth treasury in a separate account which shall be appropriated by” the Saipan delegation.
H.L.B. 17-44 allows for three casino licenses. An existing hotel or resort with 200 rooms will have to pay $25 million for one license.
But if an investor wants to have an exclusive casino license, the commission may issue one for $575 million and the exclusivity will be for 30 years.
This exclusive fee, the bill stated, will be deposited in a separate subaccount that will be used “primarily to restore the full 80-hour pay period for the entire CNMI government….”
A $200,000 non-refundable license fee will be imposed on new investors whose investment cap is $100 million.
This fee, along with fines, taxes and penalties, will be divided among seven government services and programs: 10 percent for medical referral for all eligible CNMI residents; 10 percent for the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program; 10 percent for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. assistance for eligible low-income persons; 10 percent for Marianas Visitor Authority operations; 10 percent for the Saipan delegation; and 40 percent for the Retirement Fund defined benefit plan contribution “until fully funded.”
The governor will appoint five gambling commissioners who will serve a four-year term and each will get a $50,000 annual salary.
The commission will hire an executive director who will get a $75,000 annual salary.
Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, said they will put H.L.B. 17-44 on the session calendar on Tuesday next week but will not act on it right away because he wants to give the minority bloc enough time to “scrutinize” it first.
Rep. Ralph S. Demapan, Covenant-Saipan, expressed hope that the local casino operation will help restore the 80 working hours of the government employees on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
Manglona in a separate interview said no matter how the Saipan delegation “polish it up, how much lipstick they put on [the bill] and how much the bribery is, if it’s not right, it’s not right.”
The only way to go, he said, is let the people of Saipan decide on the casino issue.
“They spoke twice that they didn’t want casino,” he added, referring to Saipan voters who rejected a similar proposal in 1979 and 2007.
