Saipan casino vote may not be smooth sailing

On the eve of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation’s long-awaited vote on a controversial bill legalizing casino gambling on Saipan, members foresee some behind-the-scene drama that could make it tougher to pass the bill than originally anticipated.

For one, not all members of the House leadership are voting “yes” on the bill because many, as of yesterday, were either leaning toward “no” or still undecided.

Second, the delegation’s floor leader, Sen. Pete Reyes (R-Saipan), will not be attending the session, said acting delegation chair Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan).

Palacios said that Reyes informed him about his absence as early as Monday.

Other leadership members alleged that absences or abstentions from today’s session are the result of delegation chair Rep. Ray Tebuteb’s efforts before going off-island to persuade other members to derail the voting process.

The acting delegation chair appointed House floor leader George Camacho (Ind-Saipan) as acting floor leader in today’s delegation session.

Tebuteb (R-Saipan) had asked the House leadership to hold off holding a session at least until after his return from Korea on Aug. 30.

Some leadership members believe Tebuteb will not be back by Tuesday, and that he had reserved the House chamber for a Sept. 8 delegation session.

But Rep. Ray Palacios (Cov-Saipan) asked, “What’s the big deal in extending the courtesy by granting the chairman his request and wait for his return?”

“We are all elected to help our struggling economy and one way to do so is by respecting each other and working together, regardless if we see things differently. Let’s focus on rebuilding our economy, which is hurting us all. One thing is for certain. The chairman [Tebuteb] made it clear that he does support casino; it’s the implementation process that we all differ,” he said.

Tebuteb, just like other senators and other House members, want the casino issue to be presented to voters in the next election.

Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), author of the casino bill, said his bill will pass today. Torres said the vote could be 9-5-2 in favor of the bill, and the “2” could be abstention.

“The ‘yes’ votes could also be eight or 10,” he said.

The Saipan delegation has 21 members—18 from the House and three from the Senate. With Tebuteb and Reyes’ anticipated absence, today’s session could only have 19 members. Only a simple majority is needed to pass the casino bill.

Rep. Joseph Palacios said he wants the delegation to start at 1:30pm as announced.

“I would be reminding members to remember their promise to the people when they took their oath of office—that they promised to look at ways to generate revenue for the CNMI people, and casino is among those revenue-generating measures,” he said, adding that poker machines are worse than casinos, which will be limited to only four and only in certain areas.

The acting delegation chair hopes there will be a last-minute change of heart among members who are leaning toward voting “no.”