MP Holdings LLC, which operates Saipan Vegas, has collected 877 signatures for a petition against Saipan Local Law 22-6 which doubles the fees imposed on electronic gaming machines.
MP Holdings consultant Gus Noble provided Senate Floor Leader Vinnie F. Sablan a copy of the signed petition on Monday. Sablan chairs the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation which passed the measure without conducting a public hearing or issuing a committee report.
Noble said those who signed the petition are “objecting to the implementation” of the local measure, and asking for its “recall.”
Noble also told Sablan that “we remain available to meet with you and the delegation to discuss a compromise solution to the local gaming tax.”
In a statement, Saipan Vegas general manager Bart Jackson said: “We are very grateful to the almost 900 local voters who signed the petition. They call upon the Saipan delegation to repeal this harsh and unfair law that threatens our e-gaming business and the jobs of 70 local employees and their ability to support their families.”
He added, “We call upon the Saipan delegation to respond to the will of the voters, to repeal this harsh and unfair local tax, and to meet with us to find a fair and reasonable compromise.”
Last week, MP Holdings and Mariana Entertainment, which operates Club 88 in Garapan, filed a motion in Superior Court for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction against the CNMI government over the enactment of S.L.L. 22-6.
On Friday, MP Holdings shut down Saipan Country Club which employed six ground maintenance workers who are all local workers.
Noble said they don’t have CWs. All our workers are local or U.S. workers, he added.
MP Holdings consultant Gus Noble talks to reporters as electronic gaming employees and Saipan Country Club ground maintenance workers listen prior to the closure of the nine-hole golf course in Chalan Kiya.
