Special Interest Money, Petty Politics Paralyzing Harrisburg as Local Clubs and Businesses Suffer, Diamond Says

October 5, 2026

HARRISBURG – As Pennsylvania approaches the Oct. 13 deadline after which Pennsylvania State Police have signaled they will seize skill games from veterans organizations, taverns, social clubs and other entities that rely on the games’ revenue, Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) addressed the Legislature’s paralysis in failing to properly address the devices.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court set the same Oct. 13 deadline by which the General Assembly could pass laws to regulate skill games as slot machines. Otherwise, the devices will be outlawed in the establishments that use them to maintain employee payrolls, support charitable giving and keep their lights on.

“One skill game developer alone, Pace-O-Matic, despite representing only 30% of all skill games across the Commonwealth, stands as the biggest roadblock to legislative action,” said Diamond, Republican chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee. “That company’s recent failed misadventures into electoral politics and its stubborn refusal to be regulated by the only entity in Pennsylvania qualified to regulate slot machines is about to create chaos and financial hardship for countless citizens of this commonwealth.”

“Pace-O-Matic has dumped millions of dollars into influence campaigns in Pennsylvania,” Diamond continued. “Too many of my colleagues are mesmerized by this funding instead of taking the important steps of addressing skill games with realistic proposals. This, combined with the usual petty partisan politics of Harrisburg, is a recipe for disaster.”

Diamond addressed reporters today about how his colleagues in the House and Senate often seem all too willing to do nothing. The General Assembly earlier this year missed a court-issued deadline to develop new sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder, allowing up to 1,100 inmates serving life sentences to petition for resentencing or release.

Diamond introduced a pair of bills – House Bills 2801 and 2802 – to legalize and regulate skill games while providing Pennsylvania homeowners nearly $1 billion in additional property tax relief. He also said he offered to work with House Democrats to amend his bills to provide additional funding for mass transit, one of their publicly stated objectives.

“The people of Pennsylvania elected all of us with an expectation that we’d actually get things done,” Diamond said. “We’re supposed to be a full-time legislature, yet the House has been in voting session only three dozen times this year and spent those days unwilling to tackle the big issues. Speaker Joanna McClinton has the authority to call us into session for as many days as it takes to get a solid, bipartisan solution for skill games over to the Senate.”

Diamond expressed frustration at the lack of urgency in the halls of the Capitol.

“It’s time to ignore special interest background noise, set petty political bickering aside, and hammer out a bipartisan deal that puts the best interests of Pennsylvanians first,” he said.

Representative Russ Diamond
102nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jennifer Fitch
717.260.6563
jfitch@pahousegop.com
RepDiamond.com