The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and other fraternal and social organizations in Pennsylvania are urging state lawmakers in Harrisburg to safeguard charitable gaming. Coming together as PlayPA for Charity, the nonprofits are advocating for the approval of electronic pull-tabs following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling declaring controversial skill gaming machines as illegal slot machines.
In June, the state Supreme Court ordered the shutdown and removal of skill games from numerous small businesses and nonprofit clubs by Oct. 13, 2026. PlayPA for Charity highlights that the elimination of these unregulated slot machines will harm thousands of nonprofit clubs financially.
This week, the American Legion Department of Pennsylvania joined the advocacy group supporting House Bill 1050, which seeks to classify electronic pull-tab machines as a legal form of charitable gaming and increase maximum payouts.
Under Pennsylvania’s current charitable gaming law, only limited games like paper-based punchboards, pull-tabs, pools, and raffles are permitted. Introduced by state Rep. Thomas MeHaffie (D-Dauphin), HB1050 has the support of nine Democrats and two Republicans.
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With charitable gaming revenue anticipated to decline for nonprofit clubs after Oct. 13, PlayPA for Charity stresses the urgency for lawmakers to back HB1050. The initiative believes that modernizing charitable gaming would benefit both charity and community, as nonprofit organizations must allocate at least 60% of their charitable gaming revenue for public interest purposes under state law.
We give 60% to other organizations and we want to be able to do more — not only keep up with our bills that have doubled but also be able to give more to veterans and to the community,” said Pascha K., a manager at the American Legion Post 26 in Dillsburg. “A change in the small games of chance law would help us pay our bills and keep up with the changing times.”
HB1050 proposes the authorization of electronic charitable games, as long as they do not resemble traditional casino games like slot machines, keno, blackjack, roulette, poker, or craps. The bill suggests introducing new progressive pull-tab games with rollover jackpots.
HB1050 also seeks to raise the single-prize cap from $2,000 to $5,000 and the weekly per-club aggregate prize cap from $35,000 to $70,000. Most notably, the legislation recommends reducing the 60% public interest payout to 25%, allowing VFW and American Legion Posts to retain 75% of their charitable gaming revenue for internal use.
Nonprofits would be limited to 10 charitable gaming machines for venues with occupancy for 250 or more individuals, while smaller establishments would be permitted five to seven devices.
Reviving the Bill
Since its introduction in March 2025, HB1050 has remained in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill is currently in the House Gaming Oversight Committee, with MeHaffie serving as a committee member.
The Gaming Oversight Committee is scheduled to convene on Tuesday (Sept. 29) to further discuss skill games.