May 3, 2007 12:07 am US/Central
Repeal Of Ticket Scalping Law On Its Way To Gov.
St. Paul (AP) ―
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State law currently forbids selling tickets above their face value, on pain of up to 90 days in jail or fines of up to $1,000. (File)
CBS
Minnesota's 94-year-old prohibition on ticket scalping could soon be history after the Legislature voted to repeal it, an effort backed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The House voted 124-8 to repeal the law on Wednesday, after a similar Senate vote in February. Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said the governor plans to sign the bill. The repeal would take effect Aug. 1.
State law currently forbids selling tickets above their face value, on pain of up to 90 days in jail or fines of up to $1,000 or both. The law was originally passed in 1913, updated in 1949 and recodified in 1963, according to the Legislature's Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
"This law is now unenforceable in the age of the Internet," said Rep. Chris DeLaForest, the bill's House sponsor. "The Internet has made this commerce legal, and that's what it should be, members. After all, we don't talk about scalping real estate or artwork or stocks or bonds."
Several representatives questioned how the repeal would affect consumers.
"Is this just going to open it up for big corporations or somebody with a lot of money to speculate on events that we all want to go to?" said Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake.
DeLaForest said prices on some resold tickets could drop if there's more competition. He said Minnesota is one of a dwindling number of states that still have laws against ticket scalping, and Wisconsin has a robust ticket resale industry that caters to Twin Cities customers.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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