With not a peep of discussion, the Baltimore City Council last night approved the amendments that watered down the so-called “Ticketmaster bill” and then gave preliminary final approval to the bill itself.

There were two “no”votes, one from Councilman Carl Stokes, the bill’s sponsor, and one from Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.

The rest of the 15-member Council signed off on the measure, which would have capped “convenience fees” on event tickets in Baltimore at 15%. It also would have required sellers to disclose the fees to be charged when advertising.

Those provisions and others were carved out of the bill after it was set upon by lobbyists, lead by Ticketmaster’s representative, Paul A. Tiburzi, a prominent Annapolis lobbyist and a managing partner of DLA Piper.
_____________________
A Q&A on the very amended Ticketmaster bill with Marceline White
_____________________

The amendments came at a committee hearing earlier this month in which some city arts and professional sports venues said that they feared the cap would put them at a disadvantage with competitors in the region.

A consumer advocate had said the fee cap would protect consumers from price gouging by ticket middlemen  and venues and still leave them with “a generous profit.”

Stokes said the bill had been “gutted” to the point of being “useless.”

Bills on “second reader,” especially controversial ones, typically generate discussion and perhaps amendments. But with the Ticketmaster measure, it appeared that all the conversation had taken place at closed-door work sessions with the lobbyists and the July 2 committee hearing.

It now moves to “third reader,” a final vote, where there is not, in this City Hall production, likely to be any sort of a plot twist.