THE RECENT controversy over lobbying by House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's accountant shouldn't obscure the merits of the bill that he was hired to promote. The state should not try to regulate the price of tickets for sporting events and other entertainment. The bill regulating ticket resales passed by the House last year would put the focus where it belongs - on consumer protection, not price control.
Under current Massachusetts law, ticket reselling is prohibited if the price is more than $2 above face value, plus a service charge. The law is widely flouted, not only by scalpers in the shadows of Fenway Park, but by companies openly doing business at offices around town and over the Internet. The police occasionally enforce the law, but it's a waste of officers' time. Violators pose no threat to public safety.
It's unclear what ticket resellers got for their money by hiring DiMasi's accountant, Richard Vitale. Such dealings were bound to raise public suspicion about legislation that is otherwise sound.
The House bill would regulate the sale, not the price, by compelling resellers in an "organized business" to pay a $1,000 licensing fee to the state and post a $100,000 bond to ensure tickets are not counterfeit. Individuals who want to sell unneeded tickets at face value would not have to get a license.
The bill is ambiguous about those people who regularly lurk about a popular sporting event with tickets for sale. But, if they become a nuisance, the bill would allow a city or town to control their activities, and they would have to get licenses and set up shop in a designated area close to the stadium or arena entrance.
It is hard to know how that section would work in practice, but the bill is being held in the Senate not because of this fine point but because senators have reservations about its basic premise. Jack Hart of South Boston, has filed a bill that would raise the cap on legal resales, but still limit them to 10 percent above the face value. Michael Morrissey of Quincy, cochairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, wonders whether the cap should be double the listed price.
It's understandable that senators are nostalgic for the days when a parent could take a family to a game or show for a reasonable amount. But some people these days have enough disposable income to pay a fortune to attend a game or show. If they can't get tickets through a licensed agency, they'll buy them on Craigslist or
Whatever Vitale's role, ticket sellers would benefit from having a legal cloud removed from their businesses. In this case, their interests and the public's coincide.
