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Saipan gaming proposal back from the dead
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Posted on Apr 07 2008
A new Saipan gambling bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.
The measure, titled the “Video Gaming and Entertainment Card Games Act of 2008,” proposes to legalize casino gaming on Saipan, particularly at the former La Fiesta shopping mall.
Sponsored by Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, the bill is awaiting a vote on the House floor.
The proposed legislation is similar to three bills rejected by the previous Legislature. It would allow video lottery terminals, as well as Texas Hold’em poker, black jack and baccarat games, to be operated at the former La Fiesta shopping mall.
But the bill, as stated in the text, is different “in scope, depth and content” from the casino initiative rejected by the Saipan voters in November 2007.
“The activities proposed under this act are quite limited in nature, will be authorized only in a controlled and specific location and environment, will allow for the orderly transfer to La Fiesta of all video poker machine installations currently scattered and operating throughout the villages, will provide much needed tourist destination activity, and most significantly, can provide immediate funding relief to our cash-strapped CNMI government,” the bill states.
The first La Fiesta gaming bill was introduced in the Legislature shortly after the initiative was defeated last year. The House of Representatives passed the bill, but the Senate killed it.
The second bill was introduced as a Saipan local bill. But the House on Friday rejected it as a local matter due to legal issues. The Constitution states that only Commonwealth law may allow any form of gambling in the CNMI. This means gambling must be established either by a public law passed by both houses of the Legislature or by initiative.
The third bill, introduced within two months of the initiative’s defeat, was proposed as a rider to an appropriation measure. The bill also failed.
