Democrats: Repeal of Anti-Scalping Law Benefits Blunt’s Brother

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Repealing a state law against ticket scalping would be a “giveaway” to Gov. Matt Blunt’s brother, angry Democrats said.

Andy Blunt, brother of the Republican governor, is the Missouri lobbyist for Ticketmaster, which supports repeal of the law that forbids the resale of tickets above their face value.

The issue is on the agenda for this week’s special session of the General Assembly. It is contained in proposed legislation dealing with tax credits and economic development. . .

A statement issued Friday by the Missouri Democratic Party said repeal of the scalping law “will directly benefit (the governor’s) lobbyist brother, Andy Blunt, whose client Ticketmaster wants to resell tickets on the Internet.”

Joe Freeman, a Ticketmaster vice president, called the Democrats’ charge “below-the-belt politics.”

Freeman said second-market ticket brokers, such as eBay, support repeal of the current law, as do the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams, baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

“What we are looking to do is provide a secure — and above all legal — resale channel through our clients,” Freeman said.

Freeman also said that Andy Blunt does not deal with the executive branch of state government, only with lawmakers.

Full Story: http://www.hdnews.net/Story/k1021_BC_MO_ScalpingLaw_Blunt_08_18_0476