OLYMPIA — It’s fans versus “ticket bots” in a bout before the Legislature.
State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege is the lead sponsor of a bill to outlaw computer software that beats humans trying to buy seats online for concerts and sporting events.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sought the bill, saying that scalpers use the software to buy up tickets that they resell at higher prices.
Ferguson said in a news release that Ticketmaster reports bots are often used to buy more than 60 percent of the most desirable tickets.
Such practices would violate the state Consumer Protection Act if Van De Wege’s bill becomes law.
Van De Wege, a Sequim Democrat, represents the 24th District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Van De Wege told Peninsula Daily News the bill had originated with a 24th District constituent’s complaint.
He initially considered it a matter for the Interstate Commerce Commission.
But when other legislators and Ferguson fielded complaints too, they sought state action.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, state Rep. Steve Tharinger, a Sequim Democrat and another 24th District representative, has introduced a bill requiring practitioners of East Asian medicine — such as acupuncturists — to consult with primary care physicians to treat serious ailments such as cardiac conditions or acute abdominal distress.
And state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, said he and his colleagues were busy “putting the building blocks together for what it’s going to take to build a budget.”
The process of examining each of Gov. Jay Inslee’s spending proposals, considering options and searching for ways to finance them — or to trim funding — will take “a couple months’ process” before they even can be packaged into legislative proposals, he said.
Van De Wege’s legislation, House Bill 1091, would make it illegal to “circumvent, thwart, interfere with or evade any security measure or access control system” on a ticket seller’s website and thus snap up a supply of tickets for resale at inflated prices.
“Just like we see Wall Street abusing computer software to drive up the sale of stock, there are companies out there using these ticket bots to unfairly drive up cost of tickets to see our favorite bands and sports teams,” Van De Wege wrote in a news release.
“It’s unfair, interferes with the fair market system, and hurts consumers. We need to put a stop to this kind of abuse.”
Thirteen states, including Oregon, already have banned ticket bots.
The East Asian medical legislation — Tharinger’s third try at the bill — would allow practitioners, primarily acupuncturists, to treat serious disorders if patients gave their consent and consulted medical doctors or osteopaths.
“It allows East Asian medicine to expand its scope of practice and increase the capacity for health care services,” he said.
“It raises the level of East Asian medicine to be able to treat those conditions.”
Specifically, it would require practitioners of East Asian medicine whose patients have “potentially serious disorders” to “immediately request a consultation or recent written diagnosis from a [licensed] primary health care provider.”
If a patient refused to provide such a consultation or diagnosis, East Asian treatment can continue only after the patient signs a written waiver “acknowledging the risks associated with the failure to pursue treatment from a primary health care provider.”
In other matters before local legislators, Van De Wege’s bill to require the Public Disclosure Commission to forward violations to the state Attorney General is set for a hearing Tuesday before the House Public Safety Committee.
Tharinger’s measure to waive excise taxes on certain large boats also is scheduled for a hearing this week, as is Hargrove’s bill to renew a lapsed tax exemption on log trucks.
Another Hargrove bill, which would tighten regulations on registered sex offenders, has received a hearing before the Senate Law and Justice Committee, and the senator said he was pushing for a bill that would extend non-jail supervision of property offenders.
Hargrove said he, Tharinger and Van De Wege hoped to meet this week with officials of the Department of Natural Resources about calculating timber yields from state forests and meeting those calculations with increased harvests.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
