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The fate of 70,000 or more illegal yet lucrative gambling devices frequently referred to as "skill games" is up to state political leaders for the next 34 days, but state police are preparing to act if the politicians do not.
"All establishments possessing, operating and/or maintaining such machines are subject to criminal prosecution and immediate seizure of the machines as of October 14," Pennsylvania State Police said in a written statement Wednesday afternoon.
The setting of Oct. 13 as the final day for state leaders to enact legislation was contained in a mid-June state Supreme Court ruling in two separate appeals cases. That ruling essentially determined the devices are illegal slot machines.
They have been proliferating in Pennsylvania for years and making money for small clubs, bars, and veterans organizations. At the time of its ruling, the court put in place a stay of 120 days on its decision to give lawmakers and Gov. Josh Shapiro time to figure out a solution.
State police said that in lieu of a new state law, the plan deal with the illegal machines come Oct. 14 "will strongly encourage voluntary compliance and provide businesses and operators and opportunity to voluntarily remove unlawful machines."
The agency urged venues with the devices to talk to distributors or vendors about getting rid of them.
"Simply powering off an otherwise operable machine, or unplugging them, is not sufficient to comply with the law," the state police statement said. "If a distributor or vendor is unwilling to remove machines, the establishment is encouraged to proactively reach out to PSP to assist in their removal to ensure compliance."
The author of what is likely the newest proposal for getting a law passed, Republican state Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon County, said letting police decide the fate of the machines "is not going to be pretty."
Diamond has issued a legislative memorandum laying out his intent to introduce a two-bill package that will include legalization and taxation of the machines. On Wednesday, he said the bills are likely to be introduced within the next week.
Some key features will be a 20% tax rate on the currently illegal devices that would be legitimized by the legislation; a reduction by a few percentage points of the current 52% tax rate on casino slot machines; and a quota of up to five machines permitted in private clubs, bars, and liquor license-holding restaurants.
Conveniences stores and gas stations would not be on the list of permissible sites, Diamond said.
Lawmakers and Shapiro, however, have been trying unsuccessfully for years to reach agreement on the issue. Beyond that, many lawmakers currently are focused on the November election, and the House and the Senate each have only six voting session days each scheduled before the Supreme Court-imposed deadline.
But Diamond thinks agreement can be reached by then.
"If everyone involved in this can forget about what has happened in the past and focus on what needs to get done in the future, we can get this done," Diamond said.
District attorneys around the state have talked about what should happen but have no group plan to approach the deadline, according to Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association spokesman John Adams. He is district attorney in Berks County.
"I am not certain there is going to be a statewide plan unless it is led by the state police," Adams said. "We believe they will be the leaders in the enforcement."