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When Gov. Maura Healey unveiled her plan to cap ticket resale prices, she riffed on a bit that’s a staple of Noah Kahan’s concerts, picking up a red rotary phone to “dial” the singer-songwriter so he could endorse her legislation.
Three months later, the Massachusetts House sent the governor’s call to voice mail.
Healey tucked her concert ticket proposal into a supplemental budget closing the books on the 2026 fiscal year. The House’s $2.35 billion version of the spending bill, passed 152-0 Wednesday, dropped that language.
It’s not clear yet if this is the final curtain call or just the point in the show where fans are waiting around for an encore.
House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz suggested procedural concerns led his committee to spike the ticket piece, with similar language also pending in an economic development bill under negotiation.
“The Senate put that in, so I think it would be a little duplicative to put it into another vehicle,” Michlewitz said. “We’re negotiating that conversation right now in eco dev, and that’s currently ongoing, so that’s why we didn’t feel it was appropriate to put it into the supplemental budget. Remember, this is a closeout supplemental budget. We’re trying to close the books for FY ‘26, so limiting as much as we can in there, I think, is important.”
Both Healey’s bill and the Senate language would cap resale prices for concerts and live events at 110% of the original ticket price.
A version could still become law, if senators bridge what could turn out to be a great divide and convince the House to go along. But becoming law might not be the end of the debate.
The Ticket Policy Forum, a trade group representing six online ticket marketplaces including StubHub and SeatGeek, filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block a Washington, D.C. law capping resale prices.
TPF executive director Brian Berry said he wouldn’t rule out a similar suit if the Massachusetts version makes it into law.
Among the problems Berry's group sees with both the D.C. law and the Massachusetts proposal is that they apply only to resales, leaving original sellers like Ticketmaster free to charge whatever they want.
"So if the ticket was $100, this is written to say you can't resell it for more than $110," Berry said. "That doesn't stop the box office from charging $300 for that same ticket the next day."
The Ticket Policy Forum argues that people will still find ways to resell particularly hot tickets for whatever someone’s willing to pay, just on social media or in parking lots instead of the sites the group represents.
Berry likes parts of the legislation, including a ban on speculative ticket sales, where sellers offer up tickets they don't yet possess. But he said he'd rather lawmakers start from scratch after collecting public input at hearings.
With the new session starting in January and hearings scheduled in the months down the road, that might not just be a wait for an encore. It's more like the lull before the next album release and a whole new tour.
Tell me your ticket-buying horror stories — or ideas for how to fix the problems — at [email protected]
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HEARD AROUND TOWN
…Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is the latest member of the Massachusetts delegation rooting for Andover Democrat Dan Koh to join their ranks. Pressley endorsed Koh Thursday, joining Reps. Katherine Clark, Jake Auchincloss, Lori Trahan and Jim McGovern in officially backing Koh over Republican Micah Jones. Pressley and Trahan had endorsed another Democrat, state Rep. Tram Nguyen, in the primary…
…A new database from MAPLE, the Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement, compiles every lobbyist disclosure filed on state legislation since 2010, aiming to help people understand who's working for and against the passage of bills. "The Secretary of State's office offers a search tool, but you can only open and read one disclosure at a time. We built Lobbying Explorer by opening and organizing all 56,202 of them for you into a free database," MAPLE co-founder Matthew Victor, the executive director of digital civic infrastructure at Partners In Democracy, said in a statement…
…Nearly 70,000 Massachusetts residents will have their medical debt automatically erased next week, with a combined $38 million in relief from a nonprofit partnership created by the Atrius Health Equity Foundation. The foundation says the recipients are mostly low- and moderate-income Eastern Mass. residents, and that this latest round brings the total amount of debt erased through the partnership to nearly $300 million since 2024. The effort also involves Undue Medical Debt and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association...
HAPPENING TODAY
10:00 | Republican nominee for governor Mike Minogue votes during the early in-person voting period. Media invited for photo and video coverage and a brief media availability after voting | Town Building, 577 Bay Road, Hamilton
10:00 | MBTA Board meets | State Transportation Building, 2nd Floor, 10 Park Plaza, Boston | More Info
10:00 | Cannabis Control Commission meets with plans to discuss and release draft testing regulations | Union Station, 2 Union Sq., Worcester | Agenda and Access
10:00 | Education Access and Opportunity Day brings together policymakers and education nonprofits to discuss how Massachusetts is expanding educational access, creating more equitable opportunities and supporting workforce readiness. Rep. Gordon delivers opening remarks, alongside Deputy Secretary of Education Garrett Smith and Latinos for Education CEO Amanda Fernandez. A panel about breaking down barriers to access includes Rep. Montaño and METCO CEO Kandice Sumner. There's also a panel about the future of the workforce, and Sen. DiDomenico gives closing remarks | Great Hall
11:00 | Senate meets in an informal session | Senate Chamber
11:00 | House plans to meet in an informal session | House Chamber
11:00 | Lt. Gov. Driscoll announces initiative that the Healey administration says will expand homeownership opportunities by supporting innovative, cost-effective housing construction methods. Housing Secretary Matias also participates | Blueberry Hill Estates, 30 Main St., Sturbridge
11:30 | Teamsters Local 25 and a coalition of unions will hold a press conference before a hearing on autonomous vehicles. "The labor coalition will highlight the dangers that AVs pose to the safety of the public and to union jobs," the union said | Cambridge City Hall steps, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
12:00 | Hundreds of University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty, staff, librarians and graduate workers rally to demand "livable wages" from Gov. Healey, with their action part of a statewide campaign this week called "Fair Wages Now." Speeches will be delivered at the Student Union's Building Cape Cod Lounge from noon to 12:30 p.m., followed by picketing outside from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. | UMass Amherst, Student Union Building
12:30 | Mayor Wu delivers remarks at the Council of Great City Schools Conference. Media RSVP to [email protected] | Boston Marriott Copley Place, 4th Floor Ballroom, 110 Huntington Ave., Boston
2:00 | Education Secretary Zrike, Higher Education Interim Commissioner Santos and Massachusetts Maritime Academy President Rear Adm. Francis McDonald attend a classroom demonstration during STEM Week | Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 101 Academy Dr., Buzzards Bay
JOB BOARD
District-Based Communications Professional — NEW, US House of Representatives
Senior Government Relations Specialist — NEW, ACLU of Massachusetts
Director of Sustainable Materials Management, City of Newton
Attorney, Prisoners’ Legal Services of MA
Engineering Project Manager, City of Newton
Legal Advocate, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
Advocacy Director, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
Director of Workforce Development, St. Francis House
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ON BEACON HILL
PUMPING THE BRAKES: The Massachusetts House voted down a temporary gas tax suspension, arguing it would cost the state needed transportation revenue without offering drivers meaningful savings. Five Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for the tax holiday. | State House News Service (gift link)
THIRD (PARTY) DEGREE: A super PAC backing Mike Minogue for governor is targeting independent gubernatorial candidate Andrea James, calling her the "Massachusetts Mamdani." Political scientists have different takes on the strategy behind the ads, while James says they help make her case. | GBH News
ALMOND CASE SETTLEMENT: Massachusetts agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit around 2020 death of David Almond, a 14-year-old who died of starvation after the Department of Children and Families returned him to his father's custody. | WCVB
IN THE DARK: A $379,000 study commissioned by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and completed in 2023 identified billions of dollars in electric system infrastructure upgrades that should be made by 2050, and has never been publicly released. | CommonWealth Beacon
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS: Transportation undersecretary and highway chief Jonathan Gulliver was tapped as the next executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and is likely in line for a big pay raise as he steps into a role facing political pressures from various regions of the state. | Boston Globe
NEWS NEXT DOOR
1st DISTRICT FIGHT: In a Wednesday debate, Congressman Richard Neal argued that independent challenger Nadia Milleron is a MAGA-aligned candidate. Milleron, who said she'd vote to impeach President Trump, called that a distortion and said declining quality of life calls for new leadership. | Daily Hampshire Gazette
CITY HALL SUBPOENA: The Boston City Council voted 8-2 to subpoena MBTA head Phillip Eng to appear at a future hearing about the Blue Hill Avenue bus lane plan and the potential of extending the T's Orange Line as an alternative. Mayor Wu's office rebuked the vote as not "constructive." | Boston Herald
CRASH LANDING: An internal review finds Worcester police officers did not show preferential treatment to City Councilor Kathleen Toomey when they didn't arrest her after a September crash, but they did violate department policy by muting their body cameras for some of the response. | MassLive
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JOB BOARD
Evaluation and Monitoring Associate, Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
Administrative and Program Associate, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Account Director/Senior Account Director, Issues Management Group, Inc.
Director of Resource Development, The Neighborhood Developers
Director of Human Resources, SEIU Local 509
Deputy Sewer Director, Town of Nantucket
Communications & Community Engagement Manager, City of Chelsea
Chief Financial Officer, Cooperative for Human Services Inc
Justice Geraldine S. Hines Legal Fellowship, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton
Financial Investigator III, Mass Gaming Commission
Vice President of Administration and Finance, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Government Relations Officer, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
