June is always the busiest month for the Pennsylvania Legislature. It is the time when we approach the June 30 deadline for approving the state budget. As is, unfortunately, typical, we are now in the last week of June and there have yet to be any significant budget talks with the rank and file members.
This is not to say that the leadership from the four caucuses (House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans) have not been working together. Rather, as is typical, the budget always comes at the last possible minute or, as mostly happens, it is late. Over the years, there have been so many (too many) times that the budget came in months after our mandated deadline of June 30.
Last year, the budget negotiations carried into the fall. I am hopeful that will not be happening this year. However, many are a bit skeptical that it can be brought in on time. I try to be optimistic, and I am guided by the fact that we are supposed to get the budget done on time.
The Senate was out of session last week, but the House was in and addressed some good, solid bills. These bills were aimed at helping Pennsylvanians and included bills to address rising utility costs, certifying music therapists, AI transparency in advertising, good Samaritan protections and campus safety. Many other bills went through the House and will be on their way to the Senate for consideration.
For a long time, both the House and Senate have been considering ways to deal with “skill games.” Several years back, the Commonwealth Court ruled that skill games were not gambling. As such, they have never been taxed like gambling devices are taxed.
We have all seen these skill games pop up in unlikely, and sometimes unwanted, places. Because there is very limited regulation of these games, we see them now in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations and the like. They are everywhere, including private storefronts that only house these games.
It is not that there is anything wrong with these games — they help with revenue at our local VFWs and Legion halls and are an acceptable part of local bars. But when bad actors put them almost everywhere, and in places where our children can get to them, it is not good for our neighborhoods.
This past week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the Commonwealth Court and ruled that skill games are gambling, just the same as slot machines. Now the matter is in the hands of the Legislature to consider again how to regulate and, possibly, how to tax these games.
The question to the Legislature now is how to handle this form of gambling. The debates continue as to how much the tax should be and how local nonprofits are handled in this scheme.
Nonprofits, including our local veterans’ organizations and fire departments, would be greatly helped by legalizing online raffles. This would be a great help to these organizations that rely heavily on fundraising. This legislation has been held up for quite some time and needs to be passed to help these groups.
Gambling is taxed in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth has been missing out on significant revenue for years now by not taxing skill games. The Supreme Court ruling should give the Legislature incentive to figure out this issue. In my opinion, this goes hand in hand with the budget negotiations that we need to address.
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