Could Skill Games Tax Help PA Transit Expenditure?

The answer appears to be yes, with two of Pennsylvania’s top politicians acknowledging that some of the revenue from any eventual skill games taxation could be used to boost mass transit spending. Taxation of these games has long been the source of controversy in the Keystone State, with the owners of PA online casinos, retail casinos and sectors of the public calling for swift regulation.

Path Towards Taxation Remains ‘Complicated’

However, those who may be expecting the issue to be resolved in the coming months are set to be disappointed. The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reported last week how both Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the Senate Republican majority leader, Joe Pittman, of Indiana County, would be open to the possibility of using a portion of skill games taxes towards mass transit spending. However, Pittman was quick to add that a portion would also go towards transportation infrastructure, like road and bridge improvements.

“I do believe there is a path. It is a complicated path,” Pittman told the newspaper. Meanwhile, Governor Shapiro, said that Matt Bradford, the leader of the Democrats who currently control the House in Pennsylvania, was “ready to move forward on the general concept”.

The will, it would appear, is there. Then again, this follows a series of similar conversations about the regulation of skill games that appear to have gone nowhere. Since the controversy erupted in the past months, the city of Philadelphia has taken matters in its own hands and banned skill games completely. Meadville is also heading towards severe restrictions in terms of where such games can be located. Meanwhile, we await the decision of the Supreme Court to decide once and for all whether skill games constitute gambling, or not.