As Pennsylvania‘s budget talks intensify, Governor Josh Shapiro’s effort to make skill games legal and taxable has become a major point of disagreement.
Unregulated Skill Games Face 42% Tax Under Shapiro’s Budget Plan
Skill games, which are becoming more common but remain unregulated in the state, represent a growing form of gambling. Shapiro wants to put a 42% tax on the money these games bring in. This idea has faced strong opposition from Republican lawmakers and people who speak up for small businesses.
Skill games, which you can find in convenience stores, bars, and social clubs, look like slot machines but need players to show some hand-eye coordination to win. They are pretty popular, with about 70,000 machines running across the state, but they are in a legal gray area, making a lot of money but not paying any taxes to Pennsylvania.
Governor Shapiro’s $51.5 billion budget plan, which he talked about in February, sees taxing skill games as a big way to get money, expecting to bring in $369 million. This cash is meant to help public schools, fix up infrastructure, and support mass transit — areas that need money right now. The governor says that making these machines legal would not just boost state income but also make things fair for everyone in the gaming business.
Shapiro’s Skill Games Tax Plan Faces Pushback as Rival Senate Bills Offer Lower Rates
However, his plan is running into opposition from several sides. Two other bills put forward in the state Senate want much lower tax rates. Senate Bill 706, which Sen. Gene Yaw supports, asks for a small 16% tax. Yaw says these machines are key money-makers for small businesses and nonprofit groups. At the same time, Sen. Chris Gebhard‘s Senate Bill 756 aims to set a 35% rate and would put the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in charge of overseeing it.
Yaw, who visited one of the state’s big skill game makers earlier this year, has stressed how these games boost local economies. He and his partner Sen. Elder Vogel say that taxing too much could shut down small venues and push gambling profits to big casinos.
To make things trickier, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is still looking at whether skill games are legal, and their final decision could change the whole discussion.
People who do not like Shapiro’s plan also bring up bigger financial concerns. Some Republican lawmakers say his guesses are too high and might lead to financial issues. They think that if spending goes up without real ways to pay for it, it could use up emergency savings and force taxes to go up later.
As the June 30 budget deadline approaches and a split legislature — Democrats in charge of the House, Republicans controlling the Senate — the way ahead remains unclear. However, with billions in potential income and public services at stake, Pennsylvania’s skill games fight has never been more crucial.