Casino amendment bill heads to Inos

The Senate passed by a vote of 5-4 last night a bill amending a one-week-old Saipan casino gaming law, but not after some senators voiced their concerns on what they describe as still problematic provisions of the bill as well as its placement on session calendar for action just a few hours after receiving copies of it from the House. The bill now heads to Gov. Eloy S. Inos, who is expected to sign it into law.
House Bill 18-182, House Draft 6 passed the Senate at 6:52pm without any amendment.

Last night’s 5-4 vote is the same as the vote on the original bill, the first Saipan casino measure from the House that the Senate passed in at least four years.

The four who voted “no” to the casino amendment bill were Sens. Frank Cruz (R-Tinian), Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota), Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), and floor leader Ray Yumul (Ind-Saipan).

The five “yes” votes were from Sens. Francisco Borja (Ind-Tinian), Joaquin Borja (Ind-Tinian), Victor Hocog (R-Rota), Pete Reyes (Ind-Saipan), and President Ralph Torres (R-Saipan).

Senators initially voted to suspend rules to place some items on the session agenda, including the casino amendment bill authored by House floor leader Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan), also the author of the casino bill that became Public Law 18-38 on March 21.

Yumul pointed out that the amendment bill was transmitted to the Senate only at 11:22am, about three hours before the Senate’s scheduled 2pm session.

He reminded his colleagues that acting on the bill could violate the Open Government Act. But the Senate has been suspending its rules to include items on its agenda for immediate action, after most of the members support the rule suspension.

As with the original casino bill, members of the public and some lawmakers expressed concern about the rushed manner in which the gaming bill was handled—without referral to committee or public hearings.

Taimanao asked her colleagues to have the bill undergo public hearings, just as her Fiscal Affairs Committee has scheduled, from March 31 to April 16, to no avail.

Senators didn’t start tackling the casino amendment bill until 5:56pm.

Manglona said while it was apparent that the bill would pass, he wanted to register his concerns on the provisions of the amendment measure.

“I wish we have more time to go over this legislation,” he told his fellow senators after going over what he considers problematic and ambiguous provisions. “It always helps to have more time to look at major bills. As what Del Benson mentioned, the issue is not whether you support or oppose casino, but whether you do it right.”

The Rota senator said he’s not comfortable voting on the casino amendment bill, which he said is once again “rushed.”

Both Manglona and Yumul cited the amendment bill’s provision that says in the event that an exclusive casino license is not issued within 90 days after the bill becomes law, “the Commission shall establish new application procedures.”

Yumul said this “opens the floodgates,” while Manglona said he hopes all the requirements would still apply, including the “initial” investment of $2 billion, the taxes, and the license fee.

Manglona said the bill still does not put a timeline as to when the 2,000 guest rooms should be built.

He said Rep. Trenton Conner’s (Ind-Tinian) proposed amendment that was defeated on Wednesday night to allow Rota and Tinian casino investors to avail of the qualifying certificate tax abatement program was meant to “level the playing field” once Saipan’s casino industry is established.

Manglona said he hopes that this will be considered in future amendments to the casino law.

“And CNMI procurement laws should be applied and adhered to if not specifically exempted by this law,” he added.

Before going into the vote, the president called for a short recess.

The governor, in an interview hours before the Senate session, said he had not seen the floor amendments that the House adopted on Wednesday.

He did say, however, that the addition of the Public School System to the list of items that will benefit from gross revenue tax may be “political posturing,” considering that PSS, he said, is always guaranteed to be funded by general fund.

Gross revenue tax from the Saipan casino industry will also be the source of funding to pay the interest on retirement contribution withdrawals, land compensation, and medical services.

The bill may be transmitted to the governor as early as today, exactly a week after Inos signed Demapan’s casino bill into law.

Marianas Economic Research and Development Foundation executive director Russell Schow, during public comment, told senators that the $15 million casino license fee under the new law is “extraordinarily low,” comparing it to the fee imposed in other jurisdictions.

Schow also pointed to a lack of analysis on costs to CNMI infrastructure, as well as law enforcement capabilities, once a casino begins operating. He said there’s not enough research and study done before the bill was even introduced.

Del Benson, a concerned citizen, said he does not believe in casino or gambling but the issue is not whether people support or oppose casino gaming on Saipan, but whether the process is done “right.”

“If this is going to be done, it has to be done right. Have we not learned our lesson,” he said, noting the $190 million sole-source power purchase agreement that was among the impeachment issues in 2012 and 2013.

He said the lack of transparency and the rushed passage of the bills “doesn’t look well in the community.”

Some citizens are still asking whether lawmakers made a deal with an investor they visited in Hong Kong the past few months that led to the rushed passage of the casino bill.

Saipan voters had already rejected twice the casino question; the last one was in 2007. But pro-casino lawmakers said times have changed, and the CNMI needs to find the money to restore the 25 percent cut in retirees’ pension, among other things.