Senator Joe Pittman joined fellow Republican leaders last week in issuing a memo regarding the taxing of “skill games”, the electronic machines that are unregulated and untaxed in Pennsylvania. Efforts to tax revenue from the games failed in the last legislative session, but both Republican and Democrat lawmakers and Governor Shapiro want to see it happen. Shapiro will propose it in his upcoming budget address.
Casinos and the horse racing industry have long been opponents of the unregulated games, saying they eat into their profits and their operators have an unfair advantage over them because the regulated businesses are taxed and the unregulated ones are not.
The memo seeking co-sponsors for a proposed bill says the machines lack age restrictions and other safeguards, often are in locations that lack security , surveillance, or on-site employees, and are “an attractive target for criminals and a dream for organized crime.”
The proposal would limit the machines to “certain liquor-licensed and lottery-licensed establishments” and collect “fair and appropriate taxes.”
Comments