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03/03/25 - On the advice of the Office of Attorney General, Department of Finance said it cannot process the $250,000 back pay for board members of the Commonwealth Casino Commissioner pursuant to Public Law 24-01.
“I am in receipt of your letter dated Feb. 18, 2025, requesting payment of compensation owed to past and present casino commissioners amounting to $250,000. However, payment cannot be made as instructed by the Attorney General, as the funding provided by P.L. 24-01 is ‘contrary to law and cannot be allocated or processed [by Department of Finance],’” Finance Secretary Tracy Norita wrote in a Feb. 28 letter to CCC acting chair Rafael S. Demapan.
She went on to say that the OAG used the following factors as the basis for the suspension of payment:
• The law provides that “members of the commission are not employees of the commission or the Commonwealth government.” Payment of public funds to non-Commonwealth employees cannot be considered a public purpose.
• Public Law 24-1, Schedule A amends personnel funding to the CCC to zero, thus any funding under this personnel account violates the CNMI Constitution Article X, Section 1 and 7.
• The purpose of creating the regulatory fee and the CCC regulatory fee fund was to allocate money from the regulatory fee to pay the commissioners so that the Commonwealth people would not be burdened by such expense.
• Furthermore, the AGO has stated that "placing the burden on the Commonwealth people to pay the salaries of non-Commonwealth employees lacks a public purpose and thus is a violation of the Commonwealth constitution and laws.”
Thus, Norita said the Department of Finance will not make payment to the CCC until such time a lawful source of funds is identified, or funds become available from the CCC regulatory fund.
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Story by Mark Rabago
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