Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic recently treated several Pennsylvania lawmakers to an all-expenses-paid trip to Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days, that state’s ultimate summer rodeo festival. The company makes slot-like skill games which, in Pennsylvania, are not legalized or regulated, but hoped to show how Wyoming does both.
Pennsylvania approved slot machines in 2004 and has expanded legalized gambling ever since−except for skill games, which continue to proliferate throughout the state although they are not authorized under the state’s gambling law and are not regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Officials estimate more than 50,000 skill-game machines currently operate across Pennsylvania; they do not pay the 54 percent tax on revenue like other gambling devices at the state’s 16 casinos.
Pace-O-Matic and other manufacturers claim the games are not illegal since they require skill and physical ability for a successful outcome. They also claim they want state law to formally legitimize, regulate and tax their industry, even though they benefit financially from the legislature’s lack of action. But casinos and other gambling companies argue the state is saturated with gambling and added competition will cannibalize revenue from the existing market.
Also, the Pennsylvania Lottery, which sold $5 billion in scratch-off tickets between October 2017 and March 2022, said it lost $650 million due to skill-game gambling machines at lobby retailers.
Both sides have hired lawyers and lobbyists to advance their positions and have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to key lawmakers’ campaigns. Last summer, several top Republican state senators returned donations they had received from Pace-O-Matic and other skill game makers, noting the games are unregulated.
Since early 2019, legislators and other elected officials have received contributions totaling about $1.2 million from political action committees associated with the skill-games industry, according to campaign finance reports. The donations include $28,500 to House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, $8,350 to state Rep. Sue Helm, chairwoman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee, and $47,500 to state Rep. Greg Rothman, who all participated in the Wyoming junket. Pace-O-Matic’s guests received airfare, tickets to two concerts and two rodeos, meals and hotel rooms.
Benninghoff and Rothman reimbursed Pace-O-Matic for their expenses, including their hotel stay, about $1,700 not including airfare. Benninghoff spokesman Jason Gottesman said, “Rep. Benninghoff went on this trip to inform himself of how another state has dealt with a complex issue in a growing industry. He has not, nor will he not, allow those who provide amenities or campaign support to get in the way of him standing up for the best interests of Pennsylvania.”
Helm has not reimbursed Pace-O-Matic for the expedition. She said it was “not a lavish trip. They weren’t paying for first-class airfare.” Besides, she added, “I went more for the learning experience.”
Mike Barley, another Pace-O-Matic spokesperson, explained, “We invited Pennsylvania lawmakers from the House and Senate gaming committees and leadership to the event for the opportunity to meet with Wyoming legislators to learn how they regulated the skill game industry and how the system now successfully works in the state.”
Currently Pennsylvania has no ban against or limits on gifts lawmakers may accept from lobbyists, although gifts worth more than $250 and travel and hospitality valued at more than $650 must be reported. Recently, House leaders again did not bring up a bill to ban gifts, lessening its chances for a floor vote before the 2-year legislative session ends in November.
