‘Bring the casino issue to court now’

Some members of the House majority are calling on the Senate or any member of the public to bring the local casino bill issue to court now, to put to rest lingering questions about the constitutionality or legality of the bill.

The amended House Local Bill 17-44, which passed the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation Friday afternoon, was transmitted yesterday morning to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial for action.

The Fitial administration said the governor will carefully review the local bill, which seeks to legalize casino gambling on Saipan. The governor is expected to sign the local bill into law.

Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), author of the casino bill, said yesterday that anybody besides Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) or the Senate should not wait longer to take the matter to court.

“Anybody can bring this matter to court now. If they want to go to court, then go to court now so that we can get it over with,” Torres said.

Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan), chairman of the Saipan delegation committee that reviewed and recommended the passage of HLB 17-44, CS1, said he wishes the Senate could bring the matter to court “immediately” so that the questions will be put to rest and the CNMI can move on.

“Either take this to court now rather than wait for House action on the Senate bill, or shut up and let it go. We were again not paid last Friday and the government’s finances and the economy are really suffering,” he said, adding that casinos will help spur economic activities.

Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) said the Senate is still “very hopeful that at the end of the day, the House will support Senate Bill 17-90.”

SB 17-90, passed by the Senate on Friday, seeks to ask Saipan voters once again whether they would allow casinos on the island. The last time Saipan voters rejected the same question was in 2007.

But Torres, Palacios, and House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Ray Basa (Cov-Saipan) don’t expect the Senate bill to be acted on by the House.

“The focus now is the 2012 budget,” Basa said.

Under the Senate bill, a special election to ask voters shall be held within 90 days from the law’s effective date.

Senators said the bill will not wait for November 2012 to ask voters, so the earlier the House passes the Senate bill, the earlier it would be for voters to decide whether they want casinos on Saipan or not.

But Torres said the Senate could have passed a similar bill six months ago or earlier, and not when the delegation was scheduled to pass the bill also last Friday.

“It’s a delay tactic by the Senate,” Torres told Saipan Tribune.

Manglona reiterated that even if the governor signs the local casino bill into law, no investor in his right mind will come in to operate a casino, knowing that the local law legalizing casino gambling on Saipan is open to court challenges. He cautioned that casino operation “is not a silver bullet” that will solve all the CNMI’s financial problems.

The Senate maintains that HLB 17-44 is unconstitutional. The Senate also killed last year a House bill legalizing casino gambling on Saipan, saying that the issue should be decided on by voters.