Rep. Roae’s Backup Plan and the Lost Week: PA Skill Games With 22 Days to October 13

Last week’s post called the seven days from September 14 through 21 the “critical window for committee votes” on SB 1079 and HB 2213. That window has now closed without a committee vote in either chamber. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives will not reconvene until Monday, September 28. With the October 13 enforcement deadline twenty-two days away, a Republican lawmaker from Crawford and Erie counties has filed what he openly calls a “backup plan” to push that deadline six months into the future — while the industry remains split on whether a backup plan is a lifeline or a surrender. Here is where things stand as of September 21, and what every PA skill game operator needs to understand before the calendar runs out.

The Lost Week: What Happened Between September 14 and 21

When the Pennsylvania General Assembly returned from summer recess on September 9, the most optimistic scenario — and the one the industry needed — called for committee votes on the regulatory bills in the first week back. That did not happen. The Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, which has jurisdiction over SB 1079 (co-sponsored by Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23rd, and Sen. Anthony H. Williams, D-8th), did not schedule a committee vote during the week of September 14. The House Gaming Oversight Committee likewise did not act on HB 2213 (co-sponsored by Reps. Danilo Burgos, D-197th, and Jonathan Fritz, R-139th).

The reasons are structural as much as political. A committee vote in Pennsylvania requires the committee chair to schedule it, and scheduling reflects leadership’s assessment of whether the votes for passage actually exist. The fact that neither committee chair moved this week is itself a signal: there is not yet a coalition confident enough in its numbers to bring the bill to a floor vote. The tax rate standoff that has defined this debate since June has not narrowed, and without a narrowing, committee chairs are unwilling to expose their members to a vote that could fail publicly with three weeks left on the clock.

Making the calendar math even more difficult: the Pennsylvania House of Representatives does not meet again until Monday, September 28. That is seven more days in which no floor vote can happen in the lower chamber. Combined with the first two weeks of September, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers have now spent three of the five weeks between the return from recess and the October 13 deadline in session without a single committee or floor vote on skill games regulation. The window is not closing — it has been closing. As of today, what remains is a 15-day sprint from September 28 to October 12 in which both chambers would need to pass a bill and Governor Shapiro would need to sign it.

Rep. Brad Roae’s Backup Plan: What It Does and Why It Matters

Into this legislative vacuum stepped Rep. Brad Roae, a Republican representing Crawford and Erie counties in northwestern Pennsylvania. In a co-sponsorship memo circulated to his colleagues, Roae was explicit about his purpose and his pessimism: “I will soon be introducing legislation to effectively extend the October 13, 2026 deadline on skill games by six months to April 13, 2027. 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 October 13, 2026.”

Roae went on: “With a very limited number of scheduled voting session days between now and October 13, 2026, and no consensus yet, more time is likely needed to get it done.”

The Roae proposal is structured as a temporary measure, not a permanent regulatory framework. Rather than establishing a tax rate, licensing structure, or machine cap, the bill would temporarily legalize the machines without a tax — effectively preserving the pre-Supreme Court status quo for an additional six months while the legislature continues to negotiate the permanent framework. The enforcement deadline would move from October 13, 2026 to April 13, 2027, giving the General Assembly eight additional months to reach consensus on tax rates, regulations, and revenue allocation.

This is a significant departure from the two main regulatory bills on the table. SB 1079 and HB 2213 aim to establish a permanent framework now — with a $500 per terminal per month flat fee, a 50,000-machine statewide cap, and a licensing structure administered by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Roae’s bill does none of that. It is a placeholder: keep operating, keep negotiating, and cross the real deadline bridge in six months.

The practical question is whether Roae’s bill can pass where SB 1079 and HB 2213 have stalled. The strategic logic is that legislators who cannot agree on a tax rate might all agree that more time is better than enforcement. The political risk is that a six-month extension simply defers the same standoff to April — with a new legislative election cycle in between that further complicates the landscape.

The Three-Way Tax Standoff: Why Harrisburg Cannot Close

To understand why no committee vote has happened and why Roae felt compelled to file a backup plan, it helps to map exactly what each of the three competing frameworks would mean for operators — and for the state budget.

SB 1079 / HB 2213: $500 flat fee per terminal per month. With the statewide machine cap set at 50,000, this framework generates approximately $300 million annually for the state. For a bar running three machines, the monthly state obligation is $1,500 — a predictable, budgetable cost that most mid-volume operators say is workable. VFWs, fire companies, and community organizations hosting two or three terminals have been among the loudest advocates for this structure because the fixed cost can be built into an annual budget without the revenue volatility of a percentage-based rate. The operators most at risk under this framework are those with low-volume locations where gross terminal revenue is thin; a flat fee hurts more per dollar of revenue when machines earn less.

Governor Shapiro’s position: 52% gross terminal revenue. The Shapiro administration has consistently called for a 52% GTR tax, which the governor’s budget office projected would generate between $500 million and $800 million annually depending on statewide machine counts and revenue levels. For the average machine generating $500–$800 in gross terminal revenue per month, a 52% rate means $260–$416 monthly going to the state before the operator pays location rent, maintenance, and overhead. Operators who have modeled this rate at the location level have broadly concluded that it renders community venue placements — bars, neighborhood convenience stores, fire halls — economically unviable. The governor has not endorsed SB 1079’s flat-fee structure, and it is not clear he would sign a bill at that rate.

Rep. Russ Diamond’s proposal: 20% GTR with property tax relief. Rep. Diamond (R-Lebanon) circulated a broader gaming reform package that would tax skill games at 20% of gross terminal revenue, restrict machines to establishments holding a liquor license or qualified truck stops, cap placements at five terminals per location, and use a portion of the revenue to reduce property taxes for an estimated 2.87 million Pennsylvania homeowners. The 20% rate is the most operator-friendly of the three frameworks, but the liquor license restriction would exclude a significant portion of current skill game locations — particularly the convenience store and fuel retail sector where many machines operate today. Diamond’s proposal is a third axis in the tax debate, not a bridge between the other two.

The cross-partisan nature of these disagreements is what makes them so difficult to resolve. Shapiro’s 52% rate has some Democratic support but is opposed by many Republicans. The flat-fee structure has bipartisan co-sponsors in both chambers but is not at the rate the governor says he can sign. Diamond’s package is internally coherent but its liquor-license restriction alienates an important operator constituency. And Roae’s extension bill has no tax rate at all — which is either its greatest appeal (everyone can vote for it without committing to a number) or its fatal flaw (operators remain in regulatory limbo for six more months, and the state collects no new revenue).

What Happens if Nothing Passes Before October 13

The Pennsylvania State Police issued their formal enforcement statement on September 14, and its terms have not changed. As of October 14, 2026:

• Machines are subject to immediate seizure. Any skill game terminal that remains on a licensed or unlicensed premises after the stay expires is an illegal slot machine under the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s June ruling. The PSP has the authority to seize them along with associated equipment and cash.
• Criminal prosecution is on the table. The PSP statement explicitly says that operators “are subject to criminal prosecution” — not only civil penalties. The threshold for prosecution versus civil enforcement will vary by county and district attorney, but the statement makes clear that criminal charges are not a last resort.
• Powering off machines is not compliance. This point from the PSP statement cannot be overstated. An operator who unplugs machines and leaves them on the premises has not complied. Physical removal, coordinated with the machine owner or distributor, is the only path the PSP formally recognizes as compliance.

There is an important uncertainty in the no-deal scenario: even if the legislature fails to pass any bill before October 13, enforcement in the first days and weeks after the deadline is unlikely to be uniform across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. Each county’s district attorney and local police departments will make their own enforcement decisions, and the PSP statement acknowledged that prosecution would occur “where deemed appropriate.” Some DAs have signaled they will take a measured approach; others have indicated more aggressive postures. Operators in counties with an active DA should not plan around a gentle enforcement window.

Roae’s extension bill, if it passes and is signed by Shapiro before October 13, would functionally prevent this enforcement scenario for an additional six months. But the bill has not yet been introduced, has not been assigned a number, has not received a committee vote, and Shapiro has not indicated whether he would sign it. Six months of temporary legalization without a tax rate is not the outcome the governor’s budget office has been planning for.

The September 28 Return: What Operators Must Watch

When the Pennsylvania House returns on September 28, the next 15 days will be the last realistic window for any legislative action before October 13. Several specific developments are worth watching closely:

Committee votes on SB 1079 or HB 2213. If either bill receives a committee vote in the week of September 28–October 4, a floor vote in at least one chamber becomes possible before October 13. A Senate floor vote on SB 1079 — which has bipartisan support from Yaw and Williams — remains the most promising pathway to a bill that could reach Shapiro’s desk in time. Without a committee vote by October 4, the math for legislative action before the deadline becomes effectively impossible.

Shapiro signals on the flat fee. Governor Shapiro has not publicly said he would veto SB 1079. He has consistently advocated for 52% GTR, but he has also not ruled out a flat-fee compromise. Any public statement from his office in the next week about his position on SB 1079 — positive, negative, or conditional — is the most important single piece of information operators could receive. A Shapiro endorsement of the flat fee, even a conditional one, would almost certainly accelerate committee scheduling.

Co-sponsorship movement on Roae’s extension bill. Roae circulated a co-sponsorship memo, but has not yet introduced the formal bill with a number. The number of legislators who sign on to co-sponsor the extension bill will signal whether the “backup plan” has the votes to pass — and whether leadership is willing to bring it to the floor as an alternative to the full regulatory framework. A large co-sponsorship list, particularly with Democratic names on it, would indicate the backup plan is a serious legislative vehicle rather than a lone member’s safety valve.

Any bipartisan leadership statements. The last major signal before October 13 would be a joint statement from House and Senate leadership — from both parties — committing to a floor vote on any bill before the deadline. Such statements are rare in a closely divided legislature approaching an election cycle, but their absence is itself informative.

What PA Skill Game Operators Should Do This Week

The September 14 enforcement warning from the PSP and the developments of the past week change the calculus in one important direction: the probability of a pre-deadline legislative solution has declined, and the probability of either an enforcement scenario or a last-minute extension bill has risen. Every operator needs to be managing both possibilities simultaneously.

Call your distributor or vendor and have the removal conversation now. If your machines are vendor-owned and you have not spoken to your vendor about the October 13 scenario in the last week, that conversation needs to happen today. Vendors are planning their removal logistics across dozens or hundreds of locations, and early conversations give both sides more planning time. A call you make on September 21 is a four-week conversation. A call you make on October 10 is a crisis call.

Contact your state representative and state senator this week. The week of September 22–28 is the last week before the House returns, and constituent contact during that window shapes legislators’ priorities for the first day back on September 28. Ask your representative specifically: will SB 1079 or HB 2213 receive a committee vote the week of September 28? Will they co-sponsor Rep. Roae’s extension bill? A legislator who hears from operators in their district in the week before they return is more likely to push for action on the week they return. Our contact page has resources for identifying your representatives if you need them.

Do not plan operations past October 13 without a legal basis for doing so. If Roae’s extension bill passes and Shapiro signs it, operating past October 13 becomes legally viable. If SB 1079 passes and Shapiro signs it, operating under that framework’s terms becomes viable. If nothing passes, operating past October 13 is operating an illegal slot machine under Pennsylvania law. The only defensible planning posture is to have a removal plan ready to execute, with the option to stand down that plan if and when a bill is signed.

Watch the week of September 28 as the definitive signal. If committee votes happen on SB 1079, HB 2213, or Roae’s extension bill during that week, the legislative picture is still alive. If the week of September 28 passes without a committee vote on any of these bills, the probability of pre-deadline legislative action has fallen to near zero, and operators should treat removal logistics as the primary task for the days that follow.

The situation on September 21 is sobering but not yet resolved. Rep. Roae’s public acknowledgment that the permanent regulatory path is “unlikely” to be completed by October 13 reflects the same math that operators who have been watching Harrisburg can see for themselves. But an extension bill is a real legislative vehicle, and the week of September 28 can still produce movement — whether that movement is toward a permanent framework or a six-month delay, either outcome is better for operators than enforcement beginning October 14 with nothing in place.

For questions about your specific operation, your vendor relationship, or what the next 22 days mean for your locations, contact us directly. We work with PA skill game operators across the state and track legislative developments daily.