Legislators ask Pennsylvania Supreme Court to extend skill games deadline to February 2027
In an eleventh-hour attempt, legislators appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking for more time to work on bills to regulate "skill games" and keep them operating.
In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that skill games are slot machines, meaning they're subject to the same regulations as the machines found in casinos and truck stops.
The previous ruling set an Oct. 13, 2026, deadline for establishments to remove skill games or face penalties and potentially criminal charges for operating a gambling machine without a license.
Businesses have been advised to remove their machines before the deadline, and police set up a website for business owners to ask questions.
Legislators are asking the court to extend the deadline until Feb. 10, 2027, another 120 days, to allow time for a bill to pass through the House and Senate.
An attorney representing State Sens. Gene Yaw and Anthony Hardy Williams, and Reps. Danilo Burgos and Jonathan Fritz filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The legislators are working on a bill that is set to be introduced and would require statewide licensing for skill games, including a central monitoring system and a $500 monthly fee per terminal that would be directed to mass transit funding, infrastructure, and volunteer fire companies.
"A brief extension of the stay would preserve the practical ability to move directly from the current status quo to a licensed, taxed, and regulated market capable of generating those public revenues promptly upon enactment, rather than after months of release, inspection, licensing, and redeployment proceedings," an attorney for the legislators wrote in the court filing.
