‘Hold off action on casino bill’

The chairman of the 21-member Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation asked members of the House leadership to hold off calling a session to act on a Saipan casino bill until after he returns from an official business on Aug. 30, but some members of the leadership are pushing for a session with or without Rep. Ray Tebuteb (R-Saipan).

“I kindly asked them to hold off calling a session and to hold off acting on the casino bill,” Tebuteb told Saipan Tribune on Saturday afternoon.

He said he would also like to hear from the other delegation committee that was tasked to review and make recommendations on Rep. Stanley Torres’ (Ind-Saipan) House Local Bill 17-44.

“And I would like to give members ample time to review the committee reports,” he added.

Some members of the leadership want to hold a delegation session either on Thursday or Friday, just a few days before Tebuteb’s scheduled return on Tuesday morning.

Delegation vice chair Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan), Rep. Rafael Demapan (Cov-Saipan), Rep. Froilan Tenorio (Cov-Saipan), Torres (Ind-Saipan), Rep. Ray Palacios (Cov-Saipan) and other members of the House majority separately confirmed Tebuteb’s request.

Demapan asked his colleagues to respect the delegation chairman’s request, considering that it will only be a matter of days until the chairman returns.

But Demapan, Joe Palacios, Ray Palacios, and Tenorio said at least three other members of the leadership—Vice Speaker Felicidad Ogumoro (Cov-Saipan), Rep. Ray Basa (Cov-Saipan) and Tenorio—want to move ahead with a session despite Tebuteb’s request.

“I would feel disrespected if they still go ahead with the session, despite my kind request,” said Tebuteb.

He’s set to leave early this morning for Korea for the International Association of Athletic Federation’s general assembly and election of officers. Tebuteb is the president of the Northern Marianas Athletics.

Joe Palacios, vice chairman of the delegation, said the final decision will be known today—whether or not the leadership will call for a session while Tebuteb is off island.

He said some leadership members wanted to make a deal—that if they hold off holding a session while Tebuteb is off island, Tebuteb should vote “yes” on the bill.

Tebuteb, when asked for comment about this, said each member’s vote should be respected.

The chairman was earlier leaning toward voting “no” on the casino bill.

Tenorio, for his part, said the reason why there’s always a vice chairman is to be able to call for sessions or address important matters when the chairman is not present. He said the same goes to having a vice speaker, when the speaker is not around.

“We have the votes, whether the chairman is here or not. We won’t be pushing for this if we know we don’t have the votes,” said Tenorio.

It only requires a simple majority of 21 members to pass Torres’ casino bill. Tenorio said they automatically have 12 votes, enough to pass the bill.

The Senate has warned that it will take the matter to court if and when the Saipan delegation passes the Saipan casino bill.

Tebuteb personally made the request not to hold a delegation session while he’s away to House Speaker Eli Cabrera (R-Saipan) and other members of the leadership when the majority called him on during a closed-door meeting on Friday.

Prior to that, Tebuteb had already spoken to some leadership members about his request.

Tebuteb also has two memos—one addressed to the speaker and another to the vice chair. Other members were also given copies of the memos to inform them that Tebuteb will be off-island until the morning of Aug. 30.

The delegation chairman also said he tasked two committees to review and make recommendations on the casino bill but only Joe Palacios’s Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations has so far pre-filed a report concluding that the bill is constitutional and has the support of the public. It recommends passage of a committee version of the bill.

The other delegation panel, Rep. Ray Yumul’s (R-Saipan) Committee on Ways and Means, said his panel will not be submitting a separate report.

“I’ve reached the end in asking for information from the [Tinian] gaming commission and other pertinent offices,” he said.

Yumul also said Joe Palacios as delegation vice chair has full authority to call a delegation session.

“I don’t have a problem if he calls a session. It’s a continuity of the legislative process,” he added.

House leadership members are also battling over the issue of whether or not casino investors should be required to pay at least $10 million in “upfront money.”

Torres said if Tenorio wants to push this, the latter could always offer a floor amendment.