Pennsylvania leaders need to find a better way to fix the commonwealth’s persistent structural deficit than ruinous taxes on so-called “skill games” — the arcade-like devices that feature in so many bars and other places like convenience stores and laundromats. While these devices do need to be regulated and taxed, treating them as a source of revenue on par with casino slot machines would ultimately privilege gambling behemoths over small establishments and community institutions.
“Skill games” are video devices that have been determined by Pennsylvania state courts to require a bare minimum of “skill” — typically well-timed button-pushing — so that they do not qualify as “gambling.” The difference is hard to find, and in practice these skill games function as video slot machines.
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