Casino Commission urges Legislature to reject governor—s executive order transferring gaming oversight to Lottery Commission

Edward De Leon Guerrero, chairman of the Commonwealth Casino Commission, told the Senate standing committee on gaming on June that the commission is asking the Legislature to reject Governor—s Executive Order 2025-002, signed May 30, 2025, which transfers supervision of casino gaming from the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) to the Commonwealth Lottery Commission.

The request came during a lengthy appearance at the committee—s Saipan hearing. De Leon Guerrero said the commission has built a regulatory structure since 2015 — including permanent licensing, enforcement and compliance divisions and a 300+ page minimum internal control standards (MICS) manual — and that the executive order would "delay the timely suitability review of the new operator" and "handicap the commission's ability to properly regulate the casino industry." He asked the committee to "reject executive order 2025 dash 0 0 2 within that 60 day period that's authorized by the constitution."

Why it matters: the executive order would dissolve the CCC—s supervisory role and shift responsibilities to the Lottery Commission, the commission said. CCC officials told senators that moving oversight during active litigation, bankruptcy proceedings, and a pending sale could interrupt ongoing license revocation work, complicate confidential investigative files and leave the Commonwealth exposed to operational and legal risk.

Commission history and enforcement actions

De Leon Guerrero outlined the commission—s enforcement history against the Imperial Pacific entities (referred to in the meeting as IPI or Imperial Pacific Resort), including administrative complaints for nonpayment of a license fee and regulatory fees, orders to reserve payroll, and an administrative fine originally set at $6,600,000 that the Commonwealth Supreme Court reduced to $5,000,000. He said the Superior…