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Committee replaces proposed $3 resale cap with 10% after competing testimony
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Summary
After hours of testimony from DCCA, promoters, venues and resale platforms, the House committee amended SB3019 on March 18 to replace a proposed $3 cap on ticket resales with a 10% cap and advanced the bill, while asking the Consumer Protection Committee to consider additional bot-ban and transparency language.
A House committee on March 18 amended and advanced SB3019, a bill intended to limit inflated ticket-resale prices, voting to change the originally proposed $3 markup cap to a 10% cap after extended testimony from consumer-protection officials, venue operators and resale platforms.
The executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) opposed the measure as written, warning that aggressive resale caps could push buyers to unregulated channels and overwhelm the agencys enforcement resources. "If we pass this bill, it goes away," the director said, referring to buyer guarantees and protections on regulated resale platforms disappearing if transactions shift to unregulated marketplaces.
Proponents included the National Independent Venue Association, represented by Kendall Gilbar, who argued the secondary-market dynamic is extractive and that a price cap would "remove the profit incentive that fuels all the predatory behavior" and help keep events accessible to local fans. Promoter Rick Bartolini recounted Hawaii examples including Bruno Mars and said that at a past Blaisdell sale "of the nearly 1,600 Hawaii residents who waited in line at the Blaisdell box office, only 6% of them actually got tickets." He urged the legislature to remove the profit incentives that enable scalpers.
StubHubs representative warned that a resale cap would push transactions to social-media and private-channel sales that lack buyer protections and recommended alternative measures such as price-transparency rules. Chris Delaunay said a cap creates verification and compliance problems because resale platforms may not have a reliable record of the original ticket price.
After weighing enforcement and consumer-protection concerns, the chair announced a committee amendment changing the flat $3 cap to a 10% cap and noted she would "note in the committee report" that the Consumer Protection Committee should consider stronger bot bans and price-transparency language. The committee adopted the recommendation to move the bill forward with that amendment.
The change is intended as a compromise to limit extreme markups while allowing transition and enforcement flexibility; the measure will proceed to other committees for further action and technical drafting.
