Pennsylvania is awash in unlicensed illegal gambling machines. The Senate Community, Economic, and Recreational Development Committee is considering two options. Either pass legislation to outlaw the machines and close the loopholes. Or license, regulate, and tax the machines.

The committee held the first in a series of hearings on unlicensed gambling devices and skill machines on Monday. Sen. John T. Yudichak said a “series of conversations” should allow all sides to be heard. Yudichak, a former Democrat, now an Independent who caucuses with the Republican Party, began the hourlong meeting by pointing out his Northeast PA legislative district includes a convenience store in Hazelton where an illegal gambling machine appears to have been connected to a murder.