Pennsylvania Skill Games Act Moves on to Gaming Oversight Committee

An act that imposes tax on Pennsylvania skill games has moved on to the next stage of the legal debate and referred to the Gaming Oversight Committee. House Bill 2075 was originally sponsored by Representative Danilo Burgos back in September 2023. 

No further action had been taken until now, with PA online casinos continuing to complain of bearing the brunt of gambling regulations while skill games got a free ride.

Pennsylvania General Assembly Memo Confirms Move

The Pennsylvania General Assembly confirmed that House Bill 2075 has now reached the Gaming Oversight Committee. With Burgos being a secretary of this same committee, it is expected that the bill will find a substantial degree of support among his peers. 

However, the bill proposes a tax of 16%, which is very far off from the 42% tax on skill games proposed by Governor Josh Shapiro earlier in February. The discrepancy has given rise to concerns that, unless the main stakeholders reach better alignment, this could further postpone concrete action. 

Topic Provokes Mixed Reactions 

The topic has been all over the news across the Keystone State in these past months. The news was met with mixed reactions from the PA gambling community, with some operators wondering why this wasn’t implemented earlier and others insisting on a full-on ban.

Meantime, a vote that was due to take place on the Phoenixville Skill Games Entertainment Center during the February monthly meeting of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) was postponed to allow for the applicant to prepare to make its case better.