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Rota delegation gets expenditure power over future casino monies
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Posted on May 09 2008
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has signed into law a bill allowing the Rota Legislative Delegation to decide how the island’s future casino gaming revenues will be spent.
House Bill 16-1, now Public Law 16-4, also exempts the appropriation of revenues generated by Rota casino gaming from the procedural strictures of the Local Law Act of 1983.
Fitial, in approving House Bill 16-1, said the legislation mirrors the concerns as addressed by Public Law 11-17 regarding the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. The previous law clarified the conflict between the appropriation requirements of the Local Law Act of 1983 and the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Act.
The governor cited another reason for approving the bill: “It is strongly supported by both houses of the Legislature in an effort to assist and move forward with the casino initiative as enacted by the voters of the First Senatorial District.”
The Rota Municipal Council has lobbied the governor to veto the bill. They said the Rota Casino Act, as passed by the voters in November 2007, granted the power to appropriate the revenues to the council, not the legislative delegation.
The council also argued that the Rota Legislative Delegation is only allowed to make “technical amendments” to the constitutional provision. The body maintained that the proposed change to the casino act will affect the substance of the legislation.
Under the Rota casino law, There will be no restrictions on the total number of casino licenses that may be issued, or the number of casinos that a person or a group may own or operate on Rota.
The license application fee may cost up to $100,000 and an annual license fee may not exceed $200,000 for the first license year.
A Rota gaming tax equivalent to 5 percent of the gross gaming revenue will also be collected from casino operators.
