HARRISBURG – Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23) has reintroduced a bill to support small businesses and veterans’ organizations who rely on skill games and protect them from devastating higher taxes. The supplemental income from the games, which they depend on to help pay their staff, pay their bills, maintain their establishments and pay for donations to help their communities, is at risk, according to Yaw.
“There is broad recognition of the need to regulate skill games,” Yaw said. “But if we set the tax rate too high, we’re not regulating – we’re eliminating. Other proposals are being introduced that could drive skill games out of business entirely. Without them, so many of the small businesses, veterans’ organizations, fraternal clubs, and taverns they support cannot, and will not, survive. I choose to support the economic backbone of Pennsylvania – our small businesses – over the corporate conglomerates.”
Senate Bill 626 implements a 16% tax rate for those who operate skill games. Yaw said this is both fair and affordable for organizations that can’t afford tax rates proposed in other bills, which are as high as 52% and mirror those paid by multi-billion-dollar casino operations.
Regulatory framework included in the bill requires games to be connected to a terminal collection and control system that allows the commonwealth to monitor all transactions and ensure all taxes are accrued and paid.
Additionally, the legislation will strengthen penalties for those who operate unlicensed and illegal games and gambling devices. It also includes a valid ID requirement to play, a limit on the number of machines per establishment and requires games only exist as a secondary source of revenue for the establishment.
Yaw’s initiative will direct sole regulatory authority over the sale, distribution and use of a skill game to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Yaw says this is based on an unbroken series of favorable court decisions, including a unanimous decision by the Commonwealth Court, declaring the games skill-based. Enforcement, he said, will be carried out by the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.
For more state-related news and information, constituents can visit Senator Yaw’s website at www.SenatorGeneYaw.com or follow him on Facebook and X @SenatorGeneYaw.
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Weitzel
717-787-3280