Funding of casino panel tied to passage of casino law amendment

The continued funding of the Commonwealth Casino Commission is tied to an amendment to the casino law that is scheduled to be heard by the House of Representatives in a session today.

That bill, House Bill 19-95, allows the commission to retain and use the regulatory fees it charges as the funding mechanism for the commission’s regulatory function. The bill was deferred after some lawmakers asked for more time to review the bill last Thursday.

The regulatory fees needed to fund the commission are separate and apart from the general fund for appropriations. Currently, the Legislature has identified $1,000 for the commission in a proposed budget bill under review by the Executive Branch.

Commission chair Juan Reyes, in a letter to the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, said these changes are “required quickly if the commission is to retain its current employees who were hired on 90-day employment contracts” and to pay existing operation expenses.

Those 90-day contracts are expected to expire by end of October, Saipan Tribune learned. Without the bill, the commission’s executive director, Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, could halt operations altogether, but not before also signaling casino operations to end. That would be the drastic option, Saipan Tribune learned, but the director could also have the commissioners, himself, and legal counsel to continue regulatory oversight of island’s exclusive casino licensee, Best Sunshine International, Ltd.

Before it was deferred to a session this week, House Speaker Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) noted the importance of the bill, saying it would authorize the commission to issue such fees to fund their operations and “ensure the public interest to monitor and regulate the casino is done.”

“The commission employees are currently under 90-day contract,” Deleon Guerero said Thursday. “If they are not provided with the authority to use the funds, those contracts will expire, and it would possibly jeopardize our ability to regulate the industry.”

Salary increase

The bill also proposes to increase the commissioner’s terms and compensations. The bill will extend terms from four to six years. That will “save money on training while also” providing stability and continuity, says Reyes in his letter.

The bill will grant casino commissioners a compensation level at $65,000 per year. Currently, they are paid $20 an hour.

In comparison, the Rota gaming commissioners get $60,000 per year, while the Tinian gaming commissioners are compensated $75,000 per year with fringe benefits.

HB 19-95 will also allow the commission to track revenues and ensure that unsuitable activities do not gain a foothold in the Commonwealth or in the industry by giving the commission maximum regulatory authority over “casino service providers” and authorize the commission to license those “directly or indirectly related” to casino gaming activities, writes Reyes in his letter.

The bill, among many other provisions, will exempt the commission from portions of the Administrative Procedures Act and the Open Meetings and Records Act to protect the “sensitive personal and financial information” obtained in their regulatory investigations.

The bill also provides that the commission and its employees be deemed “essential” for government shutdown purposes during austerity periods.