Casino bill eyed to pass Thursday without Saipan delegation chair

A controversial Saipan casino gambling legalization bill will be acted on—and is expected to pass—during a session Thursday afternoon despite a formal request from Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation chair Rep. Ray Tebuteb (R-Saipan) to hold off until after he returns from Korea on Aug. 30.

There may also be a shakeup in the delegation leadership, primarily to oust Tebuteb, other members said.

Members of the House leadership reiterated yesterday that there are enough votes to pass House Local Bill 17-44.

Delegation vice chair Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan), who issued a memo yesterday calling for an Aug. 25 session at 1:30pm, said the decision to go ahead with a session without Tebuteb was reached after yesterday’s meeting of the House leadership and the delegation’s Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee.

“We’re ready to go for it. We will let nature take its course,” Palacios told Saipan Tribune.

Other House members said “it will not be surprising” if members of the leadership also call for a change in the delegation leadership.

But other members, like Palacios, said he hopes it will not come to that. “It’s bad enough that we’re going into session without the chairman. But let’s see what will happen on Thursday,” he said.

Palacios is chairman of the delegation’s JGO Committee, which had concluded that the local bill is constitutional and recommends passage of HLB 17-44, Committee Substitute 1, which is almost similar to Torres’ original bill.

“We stand by the opinion of the House legal counsels and the committee findings,” Palacios added.

Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), author of the bill, reiterated yesterday that the bill will be passed in the upcoming delegation session.

“We have at least 12 or 13 votes,” he said.

Other members of the leadership, including Rep. Froilan Tenorio (Cov-Saipan), echoed Torres’ statement.

The casino bill only needs a simple majority vote. There are 21 members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation—18 members of the House and three members of the Senate. The bill needs 11 votes to pass.

The Senate leadership had long made known its position to bring the matter to court if and when the delegation passes the casino bill. Senators said the bill is unconstitutional.

Rep. Ray Yumul (R-Saipan), chairman of the delegation’s Ways and Means Committee, was already routing their committee report for signatures yesterday afternoon.

Yumul said the report is still considered a “draft” until it’s actually submitted to the SNILD chairman.

The Ways and Means Committee recommends that the full body of the Saipan delegation “shall decide upon House Local Bill 17-44.”

“After considerable discussion, your Committee cannot gather enough past financial reports to support the intent of House Local Bill No. 17-44…” the committee said in its draft report.

Tebuteb had asked for more time to have the delegation members review both the JGO and Ways and Means report before the casino bill is put on the floor for consideration.

Tebuteb left early Monday morning for Korea for the International Association of Athletic Federation’s general assembly and election of officers. He is the president of the Northern Marianas Athletics.

Prior to yesterday’s House leadership meeting, some members, including Rep. Rafael Demapan (Cov-Saipan), asked his colleagues to respect Tebuteb’s request, considering that there’s only a few days between the Aug. 25 session and Tebuteb’s return on Aug. 30.