Northern Mariana Islands Attorney General Edward Manibusan said in a letter to the Senate that the proposed changes in the current Saipan casino law could result in the Commonwealth Casino Commission becoming a target for corruption.
According to the Attorney General, House Bill 19-95 grants commissioners extremely wide exceptions to the so-called Open Government Act. In other words, if approved, the proposed legislation would free the commission from government oversight.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Angel Demapan and Vice Speaker Ralph Demapan, was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate without the Attorney General’s opinion that had been requested by the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs. The proposed legislation will now be handed to the Governor.
The bill calls for the establishment of a revolving fund for the Commonwealth Casino Commission and an increase in the commissioners’ salaries. The Attorney General also noted that it would allow the Saipan casino license holder to provide gambling services anywhere in the Commonwealth as long as it owns the place where the said services are to be offered.
Commenting on the above-mentioned revolving fund, Mr. Manibusan said that the text of the proposal does not particularly specify what is going to happen to the unexpended funds within the first five years after the issuance of an exclusive casino license by the commission.
As for the proposed increase in commissioners’ salaries from $40,000 to $65,000, the Attorney General noted that “essential” government officials as the public auditor and the public defender are paid less.
As mentioned above, the bill also proposes an exception from the Open Government Act, which Mr. Manibusan found exceptionally broad. According to him, the commission will be able to prevent any interested party from reviewing its activity. Moreover, commissioners will be able to adopt any regulations without giving any notice to the Legislature or the public. The Attorney General expressed concerns that this would free the commission of government oversight and thus, it would become an easy target for corruption.
Mr. Manibusan noted that other states where casino gambling is legal do not offer such exceptions to laws on public records. He pointed the New Jersey Casino Control Act as a good example to this and explained that it may be a good idea for the Commonwealth to base its casino laws on a model that offers confidentiality into internal procedures, background checks, and casino revenue but not to regulations and other important documents.
The proposed bill also calls for commissioners to be allowed to gamble despite their employment at the commission. The Attorney General strongly opposed that provision, too, saying that commission personnel should not be allowed to gamble unless absolutely necessary for purposes related to law enforcement.
Senate President Victor Hocog said that he had not been informed about the Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs’ request for a comment from Mr. Manibusan. Mr. Hocog also noted that he will talk to the official in order to hear his opinion on the matter.
