Waterford Today

State Representative Mike Harris has brought attention to his newly introduced plan aimed at maintaining affordable ticket prices by curbing the activities of automated bots that purchase large ticket quantities for resale.

Harris expressed approval of former President Donald Trump's recent executive order, which instructed federal authorities to enforce existing laws against illegal ticket scalping. He stated that Michigan's Legislature should capitalize on this move with the bipartisan proposal he introduced weeks prior. This initiative seeks to penalize operators of ticket bots who breach purchasing limits, acquire excess tickets, and resell them at marked-up prices.

"President Trump is following the law and cracking down on malicious scalpers who exploit fans who just want to crack up at a comedy show or rock out at a concert," said Harris, a Republican from Waterford. "This is great news for eventgoers across the country, and the state can help. Our bipartisan plan will give state prosecutors tools to go after bot-powered scalping and protect Michiganders from over-the-top ticket prices."

Together with Rep. Mike McFall, a Democrat from Hazel Park, Harris introduced House Bills 4262 and 4263 in March. Dubbed the “Taylor Swift” bills due to the pervasive use of ticket bots for Swift's concerts, the proposed consumer protection legislation aims to mitigate the frustrations of Michigan residents who struggle to secure tickets for high-demand events.

These bills would authorize the Michigan Department of Attorney General to take legal action against individuals or groups using automated bots to bypass online ticket purchase restrictions. The legislation would impose civil fines of up to $5,000 for each ticket acquired unlawfully.

"People shouldn’t have to scour ticket resale websites and pay jacked up prices just to attend a Taylor Swift concert," Harris said. "But too many fans never get a chance to buy fairly priced tickets, because bad actors use bots to break the rules, load up on tickets, and profit off fans’ misfortune. Our bipartisan plan will take this problem and ‘Shake It Off’ by cracking down on unethical scalpers."

There is a growing national consensus for state-level consumer protection legislation against the use of bots in ticket purchases, with several states like Arizona and Iowa enacting or advancing similar laws.

An identical bill package achieved bipartisan support in the House last session but did not proceed beyond the Senate committee stage.