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Poker bill now waiting for Fitial’s signature
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Posted on Mar 21 2006
A House bill that would require poker operators to pay annual fees upfront is now sitting on the desk of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
This came after the Senate passed House Bill 15-18 in a Rota session Friday. The governor has 45 days to act on the bill, which had been passed unanimously by the House of Representatives.
If enacted, the bill would be known as the Poker Machine License Fees Act of 2006. It would address problems with current practices in poker fee collection, which reportedly cause the government to lose approximately more than $7 million in poker revenues annually.
Currently, poker fees are collected quarterly. According to the Legislature, quarterly payment makes enforcement more difficult and it encourages false reporting, nonpayment of fees, and the operation of illegal machines.
The lawmakers also note that quarterly collection of poker and poker fees has hampered the implementation of funded projects, including the government’s scholarship program.
“[T]he purpose of this act is to require poker machine license fees to be paid in full prior to the issuance of any poker machine license and to provide that the fees may not be refunded,” the bill states.
The proposed legislation also provides that $200,000 of the fees collected should be allocated to the Department of Finance for enforcement purposes and should not be reprogrammed for any other purposes.
There are currently 1,226 licensed poker machines on Saipan, 106 on Tinian, and 82 on Rota.
All together, the 1,414 licensed poker machines throughout the Commonwealth should be providing a total of $16.38 million to government coffers.
Saipan operators are charged a yearly fee of $12,000 per poker machine. The license rate is $8,000 a year on Tinian and $10,000 on Rota.
Of the respective amounts, $6,000 goes to the general fund while the balance goes to the local governments.
