Gaming licenses renewed

Tag : electronic weighing machine

Art Ilagan, director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation,said Guam Music and D&D Games both came into the agency yesterdayto renew their licenses.
"It was a directive by my superior. I followed it," Ilagan said."The order was given to the licensing branch to renew thelicenses."
On Monday, acting Gov. Mike Cruz ordered the Department of Revenueand Taxation to renew the licenses of amusement machines becausethe May 30 decision by the tax agency to not renew amusementmachine licenses violated the constitutional rights of themachines' owners.
The decision came after the AG's office issued a memo stating thatsome amusement devices -- including electronic bingo, Liberty;Symbolic, also known as Symbolix; Pharaoh; Match Play and Uncle Sam-- "are or have been used as gambling devices."
Cruz said the directive to require Rev and Tax to renew thelicenses had nothing to do with the issue of gambling.
"When we took a look at that, I felt that there was a certainconstitutional right being violated on the issue of fairness anddue process," Cruz said. "Everybody knows the governor's and (my)stance on any gaming initiatives, ... we've always been against it.But we needed to ensure that citizens -- residents of our island --are protected in their due process and fairness rights."
Cruz said it's now up to the attorney general to take the issuethrough the judicial process or the Administrative AdjudicationAct, which would be the proper due process, he said.
But Deputy Attorney General J. Patrick Mason said that it wasn't aquestion of due process.
"Due process was in place," Mason said.
When the companies were told their licenses wouldn't be renewed,they were given notice that they had the right to appeal and theydid, Mason said. The AG's office had appointed an outside hearingofficer, to avoid any conflict of interest, and the ball was in hiscourt, Mason said. A hearing had been scheduled for Aug. 1.
"That administrative process was going forward, which is dueprocess," Mason said.
Another part of due process afforded to the companies was theirright to go to court, which they did before the directive wasissued, he said.
The Office of the Attorney General is weighing its options in whatto do next, which might include possible court action, Mason said.
Mason said the machines in question are gambling devices, whichmeans the licenses renewed yesterday "were improperly granted."
"Guam law doesn't allow gambling machines to be licensed," Masonsaid.
Local News Editor Duane M. George contributed to this report.