Capitolwire
By Robert Swift
Stung by the state ban on skill games, a coalition of veterans organizations plans a renewed lobbying effort next year to legalize electronic pull tab devices.
The PlayPA for Charity coalition said that action will help bring small games of chance into the modern era.
Electronic pull tabs are a digital touch screen version of a traditional paper game that non-profits depend on to raise money.
A player pulls a paper tab off a paper ticket showing symbols or numbers that determine if a prize is won under the traditional game.
The digital version features a player pressing a button on a portable tablet to remove the tab showing a symbol. The tablet lights up with “You’ve Won” if a prize is forthcoming.
The PlayPA coalition supports House Bill 1050 sponsored by Reps. Thomas Mehaffie, R-Dauphin, and Robert Merski, D-Erie. The bill legalizes electronic pull tabs and greatly increases prize limits for small games for licensees which include fraternal, social and veterans clubs.
But HB1050 will die on November 30 when the two-year session ends. HB1050 has stayed in the House Gaming Oversight Committee since introduced in March 2025.
The coalition will resume its efforts for electronic pull tabs when the new session starts in January, said State Adjutant John Getz of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Pennsylvania.
Lost skill games revenue
The coalition’s advocacy for HB1050 took on greater urgency as nonprofits lost access to skill games, another fundraiser used during the past decade.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled skill games are illegal slot machines last June. The court gave lawmakers a period to enact legislation legalizing those games before the ruling took effect on Oct. 14.
But that deadline passed with no legislative action. Vendors and non-profits were told to remove skill game machines or face prosecution.
The result is lost revenue for thousands of clubs making them unable to cover rising bills or sustain community giving, the coalition said.
Lawmakers really need to focus on helping non-profits in the wake of the skill games removal, said Mehaffie.
“These clubs are suffering,” he said. “We are going to have to figure out how to work with these clubs,” he said.
Legalizing electronic pull tabs offers a good alternative for clubs because they are not slot machines, said Mehaffie.
HB1050 stipulates that an electronic pull tab cannot replicate the games of keno, blackjack, roulette, poker, craps or any casino-style table game or include spinning reels that resemble a slot machine.
Bill provisions
The bill increases individual prize limits from $2,000 to $5,000 and weekly prize limits from $35,000 to $70,000.
HB1050 lets licensees keep a greater share of small-games proceeds.
The bill establishes a 75% share for the licensee with the remaining 25% for public interest or charitable spending. The current share is 60% for charitable spending.
These provisions are important to help the clubs stay in business, said Mehaffie.
Younger generations are more likely to be attracted to an electronic version of small games, said Mehaffie.
“I think it’s necessary to go modern,” said the VFW’s Getz.