Skill Game Vendor Republic Amusements to Lay Off 81 as Pennsylvania Ban Takes Effect

A Camp Hill skill game vendor, whose subsidiary shares its name with a party to the case the Supreme Court decided in June, is cutting 81 jobs now that the machines are illegal. Its chief operating officer blames lawmakers, and Governor Josh Shapiro's push for "tax parity" with casinos.

• Republic Amusements, the Camp Hill parent of Capital Vending, Apple Vending and Entertainment Experts, said on 15 October it will lay off 81 employees and has filed a WARN notice giving 60 days' notice, according to its announcement as reported by CBS 21 News and PennLive
• The company says the 81 staff serviced about 1,000 locations across Pennsylvania, and chief operating officer Joe Calla blamed lawmakers' failure to agree a tax rate, singling out talk of "tax parity" from Governor Josh Shapiro
• The cuts follow the end of the Supreme Court's 120-day safe harbour on 13 October, after which the State Police said the machines can be seized even if switched off
• The Pennsylvania State Police said on 14 October that six skill game operators or distributors have signed agreements to disable their machines from that day and remove them on a rolling basis, with more agreements pending
• None of the bills that lawmakers had six session days to pass reached the governor, and the General Assembly returns on 19 October with the dispute over the tax rate unresolved

A Skill Game Vendor Puts a Number on the Ban

Republic Amusements announced on Thursday 15 October that it is laying off 81 employees at its Camp Hill location because of the removal of skill games, and that it had filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the Commonwealth giving 60 days' notice, according to its release as reported by CBS 21 News and PennLive. When iGaming Times checked on 16 October, the notice was not yet on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's public WARN list. The effective date has not been published.

Republic, a second-generation family business, serves bars, restaurants, fraternal organisations, family entertainment centres and convenience stores; the 81 positions serviced about 1,000 locations, the company said. It attributed the cuts to the "continued failure to pass reasonable regulation and taxation for the skill games industry, which has operated legally in the state for more than 13 years."

Chief operating officer Joe Calla said his family started the business "nearly 64 years ago" and that it was "incredibly frustrating" to have elected officials "refuse to take action." He aimed directly at the governor: "All this talk of 'tax parity' from some legislators, and specifically from Governor Shapiro, makes clear they have no real intention of doing right by small business." He also accused casinos of lobbying against small businesses, veterans' posts and fire companies, according to Casino.org.

An unnamed grocery business with three Pennsylvania stores told Casino.org that hosts keep roughly 30% of each machine's gross revenue, with about 70% going to manufacturers and distributors. That is one host's account and may not be typical.

Six Operators Have Signed Compliance Deals With the Police

Enforcement began on 14 October, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) said that day. It has signed agreements with six operators or distributors, and others that have "requested more time" are pending. The PSP did not name the companies, and it is not disclosed whether Republic is among them.

Under the agreements, operators must render their devices inoperable from 14 October, remove them on a rolling basis, give the police a full list of their machines and locations, report weekly, and consent to the forfeiture of any machine not removed by the PSP's deadline. In return the police will set a removal timeline "proportional to the amount of equipment promised to be removed" and hold off seizures until it expires. It also warns that replacement devices taking cards or "anything else of value" will be investigated.

A Name From the Case That Ended the Machines

On 9 December 2019, PSP liquor enforcement agents seized three Pace-O-Matic devices and $525 from Champions Sports Bar in Dauphin County, machines that "had been provided to the bar by Capital Vending Company, Inc.", according to the Supreme Court's opinion. Capital Vending and the bar won the property back in the Dauphin County court in March 2023, and the Commonwealth Court affirmed. The court records do not give the company's address, and Republic's announcement as reported does not mention the case.

On 15 June 2026, in an opinion by Justice David Wecht, the Supreme Court reversed that decision, held that the machines are slot machines and stayed its order for 120 days. On 9 October it refused petitions from three lawmakers and 20 charities to extend the stay to 10 February, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.

Shapiro, who has proposed a 52% tax, said in the 7 October gubernatorial debate that the games should be taxed at the same rate as casinos, whose slot machines pay between 34% and 54% depending on licence category, the Capital-Star reported. His Republican opponent, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, backs a flat $500 monthly fee per machine, and Senate Republican leaders favour a rate closer to 35%, NBC10 reported.

The Layoffs Are a Lobbying Document as Much as a Labour Notice

A WARN notice is a legal obligation, but releasing it with a statement naming the governor, four days before the General Assembly returns, turns it into a hard number on what the ban costs. The 81 jobs sit in the distribution layer, which has no business once the cabinets go back to the warehouse. The counter-argument is that the risk was known: the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in 2024, and the attorney general's office argued the extension requests came too late. Each side will use the job losses as evidence for its own position.

"Tax Parity" Is Now the Whole Fight

The governor, his Republican opponent and Senate Republican leaders all say they want the machines legalised and taxed. What divides them is the rate, and Calla's attack shows why. If the 70% vendor share Casino.org was told of is typical, a 52% levy on gross revenue would take most of what now funds vendors' trucks, staff and margin, and the split with hosts would have to be rebuilt. The casino side's case, that untaxed slots in bars undercut venues paying up to 54%, has force too. Parity protects the licensed casino market; a lower rate preserves the route business. The legislature has to choose.

The Compliance Deals Point to a Long Wait

Six operators have chosen to cooperate rather than test the police, which suggests they expect no quick rescue. The agreements hand the PSP a full inventory of the installed base, a map any future regulator would also want. Meanwhile the estimated 70,000 machines in bars and shops are not being replaced by a licensed alternative outside casinos, and the warning about card-accepting replacements suggests the police expect someone to try. That is the channelisation risk a timely, workable bill would have avoided.

Republic Amusements has put a number on Harrisburg's inaction, and it is unlikely to be the last company to do so. Whether 81 jobs move a legislature deadlocked over a tax rate will be clear soon after it returns on 19 October.