Economic incentive bill allows ticket resale

By Kyle Daly

Published Aug. 28, 2007

Next time the Missouri football game sells out, don't worry. You might still have options.

Monday, the Missouri Senate economic development, tourism and local government committee held a public hearing about an economic incentives bill that contains a provision allowing the resale of event tickets above their face value.

The bill has already passed in the House of Representatives 129-20.

Before discussions in the House began, Democrats were upset by the provision on ticket resale.

"Instead of taking care of Missouri families, Gov. Blunt has included a ticket scalping provision that will take care of his own family," Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti said.

The governor's brother, Andy Blunt, is a registered lobbyist that works in the Missouri General Assembly, and Ticketmaster — a company that is pushing the repeal of the ticket scalping law — is one of his clients, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission Web site.

The economic package is one of the items on the agenda of the special session of the General Assembly, which Gov. Matt Blunt called after vetoing a similar bill, according to a news release.

According to a Democratic Party news release, the governor called the session to work on $70 million worth of special interest giveaways, including a law that would allow ticket scalping.

Missouri's current scalping law bans the practice of reselling tickets at prices higher than their face value.

Third-time offenders can receive up to a year in jail or pay a fine between $500 and $1,000.

The new law would allow the reselling of tickets at any price.

But consumer fraud and false advertising would still be illegal and punishable by law.

Both Connecticut and Missouri were among 11 states that prohibited ticket scalping, a report by the Office of Legislative Research in Connecticut stated in 2006.

Most of these states, including Missouri, allowed the reselling of tickets at or below their face value.

Louisiana is the only state where it is illegal to scalp tickets on the street but legal to sell them at any price on the Internet.

The bill also includes a provision expanding the film production tax credit in Missouri, an action that Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, has supported.

After repeated calls, Gov. Blunt's office could not be reached for comment.