Skill Games & Mandatory Sentences
State lawmakers come back to the Capitol on Monday, Sept. 28, and two Pennsylvania Supreme Court rulings are waiting for them. According to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, they have six session days scheduled before the first deadline hits, with Election Day on Nov. 3.
Skill Games Are on the Clock. Back on July 16, we told you the state Supreme Court had ruled that skill games, the slot machine look-alikes in gas stations, bars, and social clubs, were illegal gambling devices, and that lawmakers had until October to write rules for them. None of that made it into the budget. The court's ruling, issued June 15, found the terminals are slot machines under the state Gaming Act. Its stay expires Oct. 13.
Pennsylvania State Police have already said what happens next: starting Oct. 14, anyone possessing, operating, or maintaining the machines outside licensed gaming facilities is subject to “criminal prosecution and immediate seizure,” and simply unplugging a machine does not count. The machines have to be physically removed. Spotlight PA estimates there are about 70,000 machines statewide. Pace-O-Matic, the company behind much of the software, says more than 10,000 small businesses and fraternal clubs run them, and warns that American Legions, VFWs, and volunteer fire companies would have to cut staff or community support without that money.
The fight is over the tax rate. According to the Capital-Star, Senate Republicans have backed 35%, casinos want something closer to their own 55%, and the industry prefers a flat $500 monthly fee per machine, an approach a Senate bill (SB 1079) projects would raise about $300 million a year. Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford) has floated a six-month extension instead. If nothing passes, the local clubs and fire halls that lean on that revenue are the ones who feel it first.
1,100 Life Sentences Still in Limbo. The second deadline already came and went. As we reported July 30, the Supreme Court struck down mandatory life without parole for second-degree (felony) murder in March and gave lawmakers until July 24 to replace it. The House passed HB 1042 by a 102 to 100 vote, with State Rep. Tarah Probst voting yes; the Senate had passed its own bill, SB 1400. The two chambers never reconciled them and left for the summer.
They come back with more than 1,100 prisoners serving sentences the court has ruled unconstitutional. SB 1400 sets a 35-year minimum for future convictions, with narrow exceptions, and keeps life without parole available to judges. HB 1042 would let people already serving seek parole after 30 years and leaves future sentencing standards to the state Commission on Sentencing. Retired Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth told the Capital-Star the House version “leaves too many things up in the air.”
Six session days, two deadlines, and an election five weeks later. We'll tell you which one they actually finish.
