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A multi-year push to legalize so-called "skill games" being operating in clubs, bars and other small organizations around Pennsylvania may be over, and Rep. Russ Diamond said Monday "there are lots of people to blame and most of them work in the Capitol."
The statement from Diamond, a Lebanon County Republican, came after the Supreme Court on Friday denied formal requests to extend a deadline it set for Tuesday allowing the machines to operate legally.
After Tuesday, the court's stay on its previously issued order that found the devices to be illegal slot machines will expire, and law enforcement can prosecute places that keep using them.
"It's pretty ugly when you take money out of people's pockets," said Diamond, who tried as recently as last week to advance legislation intended as an attempt to break up the logjam. "It doesn't matter if it's now illegal, it was still money to them."
The machines for years have amounted to a vast, unregulated industry in the state. It has been so large that Gov. Josh Shapiro early this year projected legalization could bring in $2 billion a year in revenue.
Shapiro's projection was tied to his position that machines brought under state jurisdiction should be taxed at 52% -- a figure he repeated last week as being consistent with the 52% tax rate currently levied on slot machines.
Multiple bills introduced in the Legislature, though, have called for lower tax rates. One sponsored by Rep. Danilo Burgos, D-Philadelphia, for example, had a rate of 16%.
On Monday, Burgos said, "It is unfortunate that we are not able to expand our tax base at this time."
Burgos originally was among four state lawmakers who last week intended to file a request with the Supreme Court to extend the deadline. Burgos, however, withdrew from the group and on Monday declined to comment on his decision.
The three other lawmakers -- Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, and Rep. Jonathan Fritz, R-Wayne -- filed with the court, asking it to use its unique legal powers to reset the deadline to Feb. 10, 2027.
Another group, the "Skill Games Business Consortium," filed a separate document with the court, similarly seeking a 120-day extension. It claimed that individuals, bars and restaurants, local VFW and American Legion posts, and other small organizations "will suffer a dramatic adverse financial impact if this court's order goes into effect before the Legislature is able to act."
Attorney General Dave Sunday's office opposed any extension. In a court filing, Chief Deputy Attorney General Susan Affronti wrote that lawmakers have "known since June 2024 that the devices in question might be recognized as illegal by this court. And it has been on notice since June 2026 that the devices are indeed illegal and that this court's ruling would go into effect next Tuesday."
Operators of eight casinos in the state agreed with Sunday's office.
In their own court filing, the group said the General Assembly has been talking about skill games for years. Any extension of the deadline, they argued, could "perversely incentivize the General Assembly to continue to delay whether and how it legalizes, taxes, and regulates skill games."
Ahead of the Tuesday deadline, Pennsylvania State Police have said they could take enforcement action against businesses that continue to use devices, including seizing the machines; seizing proceeds; filing criminal charges; and steps toward revocation of a liquor license.