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Trust me when I say I know what many lawmakers are thinking: "Let's just get the skill games issue over with."
I felt the same way when I served in the Pennsylvania House.
But today, as a former legislator and the owner of a family bar and restaurant, I see this issue very differently.
During my time in office, I never wanted skill games in my Shamokin tavern. I wasn't sure what I thought about them, whether they really were true games of skill, so I just decided I wouldn't add them to my bar.
Then COVID hit and everything changed.
Anyone who doesn't own a restaurant or bar cannot fully appreciate what the last five years have been like since the pandemic. Customer habits have changed. Traffic has declined. Costs have exploded. Supply chains have at times been unpredictable. Finding and keeping employees has become one of the biggest challenges we face.
Like many small business owners, I found myself fighting to keep a family business alive. In fact, once I retired from the Legislature, one of my priorities was saving that business. I did research on Pennsylvania Skill games and found that they are indeed true games of skill and decided to give them a try. The positive impact was immediate.
I suddenly had additional revenue, which allowed us to significantly increase wages for our kitchen staff. This helped us retain good employees when we, like a lot of places, were facing constant staffing shortages. Quite simply, skill games helped keep our business open.
The pandemic may be behind us, but I can assure you that many small businesses and other organizations still struggle. They find skill game revenue to be a lifeline.
Across Pennsylvania, volunteer fire companies, VFWs, American Legions, social clubs, taverns and restaurants now depend on this revenue.
That is why lawmakers must be careful as they consider skill game legislation.
Taxing and regulating skill games makes sense. The industry wants clarity. Businesses want certainty. The Commonwealth deserves the revenue.
But there is a significant difference between reasonable taxation and taxation so high that it drives the games out of existence. That is why lawmakers should pass Senate Bill 1079, sponsored by Sen. Gene Yaw and Sen. Anthony Williams, or House Bill 2213, sponsored by Rep. Danilo Burgos and Rep. Jonathan Fritz. Both establish a regulatory structure and implement a monthly skill game per-terminal $500 fee projected to generate about $300 million annually in new revenue for the state.
If the tax rate becomes excessive, many small businesses and fraternal organizations won't be able to keep the machines. This will hurt them and take needed tax revenue from the state.
There is another reality lawmakers should consider. If legal operators are taxed out of the market, some locations will inevitably turn to illegal games. When that happens, Pennsylvania receives no tax revenue, no oversight, and no consumer protections.
The goal should be to bring this industry into a regulated system that works for everyone.
At the end of the day, this debate is not really about games. It is about whether Pennsylvania wants to support the small businesses and community organizations that form the backbone of our towns and cities.
Kurt Masser is a former Pennsylvania House Representative from Northumberland County and owner of the Wayside Inn in Shamokin. He is a consultant for Pace-O-Matic.