Members of the leadership told Variety last week they are willing to set aside their political ambitions for the sake of the CNMI economy.
Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, said the people “put us here to help save the economy” and that is exactly what they are doing in supporting the casino measure.
“I’m not threatened by the thought that supporting the casino bill will make it hard for us to win the next election. If it helps the economy you have to be willing to set aside your political ambition,” he said.
Although he has not made a final decision on the casino issue yet, Cabrera said he is not thinking about the next election.
Some of his relatives are known to be anti-gambling advocates.
Schools, Cabrera said, will open soon and the students and parents will have to shop for school supplies amid payless paydays and work-hour cuts.
Lawmakers, he added, should help the CNMI people and stop thinking about their own political future.
House Floor Leader George N. Camacho, Ind.-Saipan, said his votes on legislation are not based on political reasons.
He said his work is about listening to his constituents.
Whether the idea of legalizing casino on Saipan is unpopular or not, does not concern him.
There is a fine line between voting for the unpopular and voting for what the constituents want, he said.
Camacho said that if the people he represents do not like casino, then he has to listen to them.
But he doubts if casino legalization remains unpopular on Saipan.
The economic situation now is different compared to what the CNMI had when Saipan voters rejected casino in the past.
“People who were not in favor of casino have actually changed their minds in the face of these changes in the economy,” Camacho said.
However he said this doesn’t mean that more people now are in favor of gambling, “but it’s basically a matter of looking at what else is out there to change things around.”
Camacho believes people’s opinions about a Saipan casino have changed.
Rep. Fredrick Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, he can’t tell what’s going to happen in the future, but right now the 17th Legislature is “working with what we can do to help the CNMI.”
Many ideas have been brought to the table, he added. Some promise results that may take longer than others.
The House leadership, he said, is working with what are on the table right now.
“I am not thinking about the next election. I’m thinking about how we can help the CNMI now,” he added.
“You’ll never know whether something will work until you try it,” he said.
Deleon Guerrero also said that his actions in the House are not based on whether he will get reelected.
“I don’t look at it that way. I look at it from a standpoint of what needs to be done today. Right now, the people’s stand on casino issue is probably 50-50. Half support it and the other half are against it. It is a very divisive issue,” he said.
“But I still think that we have to make the right decision.”
Rep. Froilan C. Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, said those who will vote against the casino bill should be “kicked out of office.”
The main issue, he added, is the economy.
Government revenue keeps declining which will mean further reductions in working hours and possible job losses not only in the government but also in the private sector, he said.
The current Legislature, he noted, has not really accomplished that much.
“We are not doing anything about the most important issue,” the former governor said.
It is their responsibility as lawmakers to find revenue for the government, he added.
The people elected them to help the economy, he said.
“If we don’t approve the casino the more reasons voters have to kick us out,” Tenorio added.
