Skill games deal collapses, and the bipartisan Senate bill never left committee
About 70,000 machines are in legal limbo after a court deadline passed. House Democrats blame Senate Republicans. The records show the main bill has waited 346 days without a vote.
Talks to legalize, regulate and tax skill games in Pennsylvania fell apart this week, leaving the slot-like machines found in bars, clubs and convenience stores without a legal footing. House Democratic leaders said Wednesday that a deal was dead, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.
This matters beyond the machines themselves. Skill game money has been part of the state's budget and transit debates. Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a 52% tax in his 2026-27 budget, estimated to bring in about $2 billion, and said much of it would go to mass transit, according to the Capital-Star.
How it got here
In June, the state Supreme Court ruled that skill games are gambling devices that must be licensed by the Gaming Control Board. The court delayed enforcement for four months, to Oct. 14, to give lawmakers time to act, and about 70,000 machines became contraband when that passed, the Capital-Star reported.
The tax rate was one of the biggest gaps. Senate leaders backed 35% and Sen. Gene Yaw proposed 16%, according to the Capital-Star. Yaw and Sen. Anthony Williams later proposed a flat $500 monthly fee per machine, which would raise about $300 million a year. Lawmakers also disagreed on the Gaming Control Board's role, where the money would go, and whether only places with liquor licenses could host machines.
House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris, a Philadelphia Democrat, said Senate Republicans "have created a problem and have killed the solution," the Capital-Star reported. House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, a Montgomery County Democrat, told Spotlight PA that "there was a deal reached." Yaw disputed that leaders had agreed on a bill, and said, "Quite frankly, it's too late to do anything now," according to the Capital-Star. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, an Indiana County Republican, said in a statement to Spotlight that gaming reform "requires agreement on numerous levels."
The Capital-Star reported that some rural Republican senators, including Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Washington County, objected to sending most of the money to SEPTA in Philadelphia.
What the records add
The main Senate bill never got a vote. The bipartisan proposal the Capital-Star described is Senate Bill 1079, sponsored by Yaw, a Republican from the 23rd District. The bill page lists eight co-sponsors: six Democrats, including Williams and Sen. Sharif Street, and two Republicans, Sens. David Argall and Elder Vogel. It was referred to the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee on Nov. 11, 2025. The bill page shows no action since, and no votes: 346 days in committee as of Friday.
No skill games bill reached a floor vote this session, Spotlight PA reported (Spotlight PA). That means there is no roll call showing where individual lawmakers stood on a tax rate. The positions on record are the ones members stated publicly, and their sponsorships.
What happens next
The calendar is short. The House has two voting days left this year, Nov. 9 and 10, and the Senate has two, Nov. 17 and 18, according to the House and Senate session schedules. Harris said the House would take up a Senate bill or amend House bills already in progress, the Capital-Star reported.
Any bill that hasn't passed both chambers when the two-year session ends dies, and the next session starts in January with new bill numbers. Democrats are hoping a Senate they control after the Nov. 3 election would take up a deal, the Capital-Star reported. Republicans now hold the Senate 27-23.