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Pennsylvania’s state budget has missed its July 1 deadline for a fifth consecutive year, and skill games regulation remains one of the unresolved pieces. It’ll likely remain that way until after the July 4 holiday.
While there’s no deadline for the budget, the 120-day clock to regulate skill games is ticking. The Supreme Court ruled the machines illegal last month, and skill games figure to be a major part of the budget moving forward.
Where skill games stand in the budget talks
Spotlight PA reported that Republicans could strike a budget deal “in the days following July 4th.” One of the largest topics on the budget that has yet to have been finalized is skill games.
Gov. Josh Shapiro is favor of taxing the games at a 52% rate under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. That would generate a massive amount of revenue for the state, as Shapiro’s budget indicated:
“With a maximum number of five machines per establishment, this proposal would see gross terminal revenues taxed at an effective rate of 52 percent, with all the proceeds after funding for compulsive gambling support and local share transfers deposited into the General Fund, generating more than $2 billion a year in revenues.”
Shapiro’s regulation is one of several that has been proposed. The others include a wide variety of ideas:
- Sen. Gene Yaw: Introduced SB 626, which enacts a 16% tax on the machines
- Sen. Gene Yaw: Introduced SB 1079, establishing fees
- Sen. Chris Gebhard: Introduced SB 756, which includes a 35% tax on the machines
- Rep. Kerry Benninghoff: Introduced HB 1619, which would place no additional tax on the games
- Rep. Danilo Burgos: Introduced HB 2046, establishing fees and cutting taxes for Category 4 mini-casinos
- A second proposal from Burgos that would impose a $500 monthly fee per terminal and cap the number of machines statewide at 50,000
Another lawmaker has even laid out consumer protection regulations for skill games, too.
The Supreme Court ruling adds a deadline
After the June 15 ruling, which made skill games illegal, the Supreme Court gave the state 120 days to iron out a regulation plan.
If it continues to go unresolved, the machines that are in bars, restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, and other businesses could be subject to seizure by mid-October.
The clock is separate from the budget deadline. However, it gives lawmakers incentive to agree on a regulation and taxation plan sooner rather than later.
What is means right now
The Supreme Court instructed law enforcement not to seize any skill games from businesses until the 120-day clock expires, without regulation signed into law.
Despite that, the budget delay and the tax rate is still open, as both sides of the aisle seem far apart on a solution.
Lawmakers passed last year’s budget in November 2025, which computed to a 135-day impasse. Whether it takes that long this year, and what the skill games tax rate looks like, remains to be seen.
