(The Center Square) – A multi-year push to regulate and tax skill games in Pennsylvania got a jumpstart this week from its most vocal legislative proponent.
Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, began circulating a cosponsorship memo for his $300 million plan to officially legalize the machines in private clubs and small businesses, like the American Legion, VFW and volunteer fire companies.
The money, he said, can support another initiative he lobbied to get to the governor’s desk: the Clean Streams Fund.
“Skill games are a piece of the economy in our state,” he said. “They cannot and should not be ignored.”
The casino industry has long opposed the effort, even filing a lawsuit in 2024 that would subject skill games to the same 54% tax rate. Supporters say the challenge was nothing more than a tactic to crush its competition.
Pace-O-Matic, a leading skill games manufacturer, supports regulation to legally distinguish its machines from games of chance, like slot machines.
Supporters say winning comes through mastery, not sheer luck, making them entirely separate from traditional gambling devices . There are an estimated 67,000 gaming terminals in the state.
Mike Barley, chief public affairs officer at Pace-O-Matic and spokesman for Pennsylvania Skill, said regulation and taxation are “commonsense” and would support 15,000 workers at small businesses and volunteer organizations across the state.
“We ask lawmakers to pass this measure because it has helped many of these businesses and organizations stay afloat as they deal with inflation and worker shortages,” he said.
While game manufacturers vary, those familiar with them disagree about the distinction, often likening them to slot machines. Data published by the American Gaming Association last year found that most Americans view them as games of chance.
Critics say the machines equate to an unregulated gambling industry, housed in corner stores, bars, and non-profit clubs with no regulation and very little oversight, opening the door for potential abuse and even addiction.
Yaw’s bill requires machines to be connected to a terminal collection and control system that gives monitoring capabilities to the state, ensuring accurate collection of taxes. Penalties for operating unlicensed machines will be raised, limits will be placed on the number of machines allowed in a single establishment, and the business itself cannot use the machines as a primary source of income.
According to competing polls conducted last year by CYGNAL for the PA Taverns and Players Association, or PA TAP, Pennsylvania voters have major support for skills games: 50% of those polled opposed a ban on skills games, and 60% supported the lower 16% tax proposed.
