Pennsylvania’s Real Plan B: A Six-Month Extension Sitting in Committee

Every comprehensive skill-games bill in Harrisburg asks lawmakers to settle tax rate, machine caps, siting, and how to spend the revenue, all in a few session days. The extension bills ask for something much smaller: time.

Key takeaways: 13 days remain before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's October 13 cutoff. HB 2793 (Rep. Manuel Guzman) and HB 2795 (Rep. Brad Roae) were referred to House Gaming Oversight on September 24 and would authorize skill games through April 13, 2027. The comprehensive bills (HB 2213, HB 2557, HB 2801, HB 2802 and SB 1079) had no committee vote when we last checked the legislative records. Reporting this week puts the Senate at six session days before the deadline. The Attorney General and State Police have both said machines must be physically removed, with action starting October 14.

What the extension bills do. HB 2793 and HB 2795 were referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee on September 24. Both would authorize certain skill games through April 13, 2027, six months past the current deadline. Rep. Roae's version, as described in press coverage, would treat skill games as a new category of slot machine that is exempt from existing slot-machine regulation and taxes, which would allow them outside casinos. Roae has said publicly that it is "unlikely that legislation to make skill games legal, establish a tax rate, establish regulations and decide how to spend the revenue will get done by Oct. 13." Rep. Guzman has pointed to the breadth of the issues: regulation, taxes, licensing, enforcement, consumer protections and siting.

Why this matters for operators. An extension is not a framework. It would preserve the status quo temporarily; it would not settle the tax rate, the machine caps, or who can host. It would also need to clear committee, the full House, the Senate and the Governor's desk before October 13, in a calendar that Spotlight PA describes as competing with election-season campaigning. And a bill number is not a committee vote.

What hasn't changed. Attorney General Dave Sunday said on September 29 that his office will pursue seizure of machines and operating funds after the deadline, with criminal charges "when appropriate." State Police guidance is the same: unplugging is not compliance, machines must be removed. Any operator planning around a possible extension should also have a removal plan ready for October 13.

A note on our numbers. Yesterday we cited 11 remaining session days; that came from one outlet's count, while Senate-focused reporting says six, so we are attributing rather than picking one. We also said Chicago had 65 licensed establishments. Pulling the Illinois Gaming Board's licensed list again, filtered to City = Chicago, we count 64 (all Establishment licenses), with 287 pending (285 Establishment, 1 Veterans Establishment, 1 Truck Stop Establishment).

Chicago: still no city licenses. Bally's August 10 construction halt and the September 9 License Committee hearing remain the most recent verified events; the committee chair promised a follow-up hearing, and we found no date for it. The city continues to have no local VGT licenses, so no Chicago terminals are operating.

The rest of the map: we found no new dated developments today in Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Nevada, West Virginia, Montana, Oregon or Nebraska, and nothing new nationally.

Planning for October 13, with or without an extension? Reach out for a compliance read on your locations.