A group of indigenous Northern Marianas residents is pushing anew for casino gambling to be legalized on Saipan.
The CNMI Indigenous Entrepreneurs Inc. has drafted a local initiative to allow casinos on Saipan. The group presented the proposed legislation to the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation yesterday morning.
The proposal is to grant a perpetual casino license to a corporation made up of people of Northern Marianas descent, including those from Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
As the sole licensee, the NMD Investment Corporation will have the authority to contract with casino operators-such as hotels with more than 200 rooms-for a fee or profit sharing.
Income earned from the casino management contracts will be distributed to NMD shareholders in the form of dividends.
The local initiative also seeks to create a Saipan Casino Commission, which will grant the license to the NMD Investment Corporation and oversee the operation of casinos on Saipan. The commission will have seven members, all of whom should be Chamorro or Carolinian, and registered voters on Saipan for five years before their appointment.
A Saipan Municipal Treasury will also be formed to administer the Saipan casino fund, or all revenues, taxes, fines, fees and penalties collected from the licensee and the casino operators.
According to the initiative, the licensee should pay a casino license fee of $300,000 to the commission at the start of operations.
Each casino operator should pay a permit fee of $250,000 after the commission approves its agreement with the licensee.
In addition, renewal fees of $300,000 for the licensee and $250,000 for each casino operator should be paid each year.
The licensee and casino operators will also be assessed an annual 1 percent gross revenue tax and 15 percent casino gross revenue tax. These tax rates may be adjusted under certain circumstances.
The commission may establish other fees and penalties through regulations.
All casino fees, penalties and taxes collected by the Saipan Casino Commission and the municipal treasury will be subject to appropriation by the SNILD. These revenues may only be used for projects benefiting Saipan and the Northern Islands.
Local U.S. citizens will be given priority in casino hiring. Casino employees will be paid the U.S. minimum wage.
Former House Speaker Pedro R. Guerrero, president of the CNMI Indigenous Entrepreneurs Inc., said that the establishment of casino gambling on Saipan would benefit the entire Commonwealth, even though the investment corporation would be limited to NMD people and the casino revenues would be used for Saipan purposes only.
“Everyone on Saipan will gain directly or indirectly from this project. The purpose is to enhance the livelihood of the indigenous, while also stirring economic activity,” Guerrero said in an interview.
Saipan lawmakers raised several issues when the draft initiative was presented at the SNILD session yesterday. One of the main concerns involved the process through which Guerrero's group plans to get the initiative enacted.
House Minority Leader Arnold I. Palacios said it might be difficult for the initiative to be ratified through the local initiative process.
A local initiative petition requires the signature of at least 20 percent of registered voters before it can be placed on the ballot. To be ratified, the initiative has to be approved by at least two-thirds of the voters.
Palacios urged the organization to consider submitting the proposal as a legislative initiative, which would require only the two-thirds vote of each house of Legislature and then a simple majority of voters.
Sen. Pete P. Reyes, chairman of the Saipan delegation, assigned SNILD vice chairman Ramon Tebuteb to form a group that will work with the CNMI Indigenous Entrepreneurs on the casino plan.
The organization plans to have the initiative ratified in the November 2007 mid-term election, Guerrero said.
The CNMI Indigenous Entrepreneurs Inc. was established in the late 1990s. The current officers are Guerrero, president; Paz Younis, vice president; Karl T. Reyes, treasurer; Doris Chong, secretary; and David C. Sablan, administrator.
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