Senate committee questions nominee Orlando Rivera Carrión on licensing, enforcement and revenue from electronic gaming

Orlando Rivera Carrión, nominated by Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia to lead the Comisión de Juegos del Gobierno de Puerto Rico, told the Senate Committee on Nominations on June 8 that his office is moving to legalize and regulate thousands of electronic ‘‘route’’ gaming machines, strengthen enforcement and begin revenue collections this summer.

Rivera Carrión summarized his qualifications and a work plan that includes creating a law-and-order enforcement division with sworn staff, implementing an interconnection monitoring system and rolling out a Casino Payments System (CPS) to streamline collections. He said the statute authorizes an initial 25,000 route machines and up to 45,000 in the long term, and projected first-year license fees of roughly $40 million plus about $20 million from play revenues.

"La ley... autorizó la operación de veinticinco mil máquinas, inicialmente hasta un máximo de cuarenta y cinco mil," Rivera Carrión said, adding the commission has already issued 100…