Rep. Russ Diamond has circulated a skill-game regulation framework one day before Pennsylvania's safe-harbor window closes. The 120-day moratorium set by the state Supreme Court expires on October 13, after which a June ruling classifying skill games as slot machines takes effect.
Diamond's proposal sets a 20% tax on terminal GGR and caps placement at five machines per location — limited to clubs, bars with liquor licences and truck stops. The memo includes no statewide cap. Pennsylvania currently hosts between 70,000 and 100,000 skill games across convenience stores, petrol stations and tobacco shops, most of which would fall outside the new framework.
The draft also standardises casino slot and online-gaming tax at 49.9%, compared to the current 48–54% on slots and 54% on online slots. Revenue flows into the State Gaming Fund: 79% for property-tax relief, 13.25% to the general fund, 6.75% to horse racing and 1% for problem-gambling treatment.
Diamond has not yet formally introduced the bill and is seeking co-sponsors. Years of failed attempts include two budget proposals from Governor Josh Shapiro — the latest with a 52% tax and a 40,000-machine cap — and Rep. Ben Waxman's HB 2557 in May, which focused on player protection without naming a rate. Even in the $50.8bn budget passed this summer, the issue was left unresolved.
ABC27 reports scepticism in the Capitol that Diamond's package is too broad to pass in two days.
