In an interview yesterday, Tenorio, Covenant-Saipan, said he’s pretty much sure that this time around, voters will support the proposal which they rejected in 1979 and 2007.
Tenorio said it is unfair that those who oppose the Saipan casino and will not even vote on it should get a share of the casino money “once it starts rolling in.”
A popular initiative for the casino will be on the ballot on Saipan only.
The former governor reiterated that he wants the Saipan casino legalized through legislation and not through a popular initiative.
He said Saipan’s casino revenue will go to the general fund which will also benefit the municipal governments of Tinian and Rota whose leaders, he added, continue to oppose the proposal.
“See, they won’t participate in the popular initiative and yet they are going to get funds from the casino revenue,” Tenorio said.
“My point is, if Saipan voters are going to vote on a popular initiative for Saipan casino, I don’t want Tinian and Rota to have any portion of the revenue from the casino,” he added.
He wants the controversial proposal be decided by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
That way, he said, the lawmakers of Tinian and Rota can take part in the decision-making.
It is also faster to legalize Saipan casino through legislation, he added.
If done through a popular initiative, “we will have to wait until November of next year to vote on it, so we are losing time.”
Ed Propst, an anti-gambling advocate in a telephone interview, described Tenorio’s latest pronouncement as “strange.”
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, and Sen. Frank Q. Cruz, R-Tinian, earlier said they would rather let the people of Saipan decide on the issue.
Rota and Tinian have casinos, but they are not doing well.
