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Senate panel hears advocates and industry on bill to police ticket resale; 10% cap sparks sharp debate
Summary
Supporters told the Senate committee that H.512 would curb deceptive websites and speculative sales that scam Vermonters; ticket‑market platforms and some venue operators backed bans and disclosure rules but warned a 10% resale cap could be unenforceable and push sales to unregulated channels, raising fraud risks.
A Vermont Senate committee on Thursday heard competing testimony on SH H512, a bill that would regulate event ticket resale by banning speculative listings and deceptive websites and by allowing enforcement under state consumer‑protection law.
"Live events are really the heartbeat of Vermont's creative economy," said Susan Evans, executive director of the Vermont Arts Council, urging lawmakers to act after recounting cases in which Vermonters were lured to fake sites or paid inflated prices only to discover their tickets were invalid. Evans said the bill would give venues and consumers an avenue to report violations to the Attorney General and permit civil penalties, and she described a package of protections that includes a proposed 10% cap on secondary‑market markups.
Evans cited a 2023 example assembled by the National Independent Talent Association for two concerts at the Champlain Valley Expo, saying 493 tickets were resold at an average face value of $55 and an average resale price of $188 — a gap she said…
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