No. At a rally on the Capitol steps on June 24, 2026, Sen. Jarrett Coleman said skill games aren’t gambling and should face no tax and no regulation. At the same rally, a Republican senator said the exact opposite.
What Coleman said
Skill games should operate under no tax and no regulation, because they’re not gambling.
FOX43 reported that lawmakers “sent mixed messages, with some calling for fair taxation and regulation, and others like State Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh) arguing for no taxation or regulation.” (FOX43)
What a Republican colleague said
Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-Lebanon), who supports regulating the machines:
This case was brought by Pace-O-Matic. They are a gambling device operator, and that’s what this is. We’re talking about gambling.
He added that law enforcement will tell you “crime absolutely just follows these machines where they go.”
That’s not a Democrat talking. It’s a Republican senator, at the industry’s own rally, nine days after the state Supreme Court said the same thing.
Coleman’s position isn’t new
A year before the ruling, Coleman wrote an op-ed urging colleagues to vote against a 2025 bill to tax and regulate skill games. He called it a “dangerous bill” and “the very definition of big government, oppressive taxation, and overregulation.” (Delaware Valley Journal, July 2025)
It’s a settled position, and the court ruling didn’t change it.
What the court said
On June 15, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that unlicensed skill games are illegal slot machines. It relied on the legislature’s own 2017 law, which defines slot machines to include games of skill, or of skill and chance combined. (Full opinion)
The court gave a 120-day grace period, ending October 13, 2026 — three weeks before the election.
Coleman is outside even the industry
| Who | Proposed tax rate |
|---|---|
| Sen. Jarrett Coleman | Zero — no tax, no regulation |
| Pace-O-Matic, the biggest manufacturer | 16% |
| Senate Republicans in negotiations | 16% to 35%, or a flat fee per machine |
| Gov. Josh Shapiro | 52% |
| Casino slot machines today | about 54% |
Pace-O-Matic — the company that brought the lawsuit — is asking to be taxed. Coleman says it shouldn’t be.
The money
FOX43 noted that the lawmakers who spoke at the rally had all received significant campaign contributions from the skill games industry.
For Coleman: in 2025, $395,000 of his campaign’s $748,589 — 53% — came from the industry, including $250,000 from Pace-O-Matic’s founder. In 2026, $305,000 of $390,946 in itemized contributions — 78 cents of every dollar — came from the industry’s PAC. That’s about $701,000 over three years. (Campaign finance filings, filer ID 20220185)
The other side, fairly stated
The rally’s crowd wasn’t lobbyists. An American Legion commander said that without skill games during COVID, his post would have shut down.
That’s real. A 52% tax would hit a VFW post harder than a casino. But protecting small hosts and taxing manufacturers aren’t in conflict — most states with legal machines do both. “No tax and no regulation” protects the manufacturer most of all.
Where Mark Pinsley stands
Pinsley, the Democratic nominee and Lehigh County Controller since 2020, says skill games should be “regulated, taxed and handled honestly” — with protections for the bars, stores and veterans’ posts that depend on them, and licenses for small local businesses first.
After the court’s ruling, doing nothing isn’t an option. Someone has to write the rules. The question on the ballot is who.
District 16 covers parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties. The general election is November 3, 2026.
