Lawmaker pushes to make scalping inaugural tickets illegal

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) is pushing legislation to make it illegal to scalp tickets to a presidential inauguration ceremony.

“These tickets should not be sold to the highest bidder. Anyone obtaining them and then seeking to profit should be penalized,” Capuano said in a statement.

The Hill reported earlier this month that online sites like Craigslist were selling the free tickets to President Obama's swearing-in.

It is not illegal to sell the tickets, but it is frowned upon.

This is the second time Capuano has filed legislation to ban inaugural ticket scalping. He first did so in 2008 after reports that tickets to Obama's swearing-in were going for thousands of dollars on the Internet. His bill was not taken up in the House at the time.

Tickets to the ceremony — there were 250,000 of them this year — are given to members of Congress, who distribute them to the public at no charge. Ticket holders are let into seated and standing areas on the National Mall, close to the West Front of the Capitol where the president takes the oath of office.

“Four years ago the Senate passed similar legislation. I am hopeful that, because this problem has surfaced again, it will be illegal to profit from these tickets before our next President takes the oath of office,” Capuano noted.

The Hill's report about ticket scalping for the 2013 inaugural led Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the head of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, to call on eBay and Craigslist to take down listings for the tickets. The companies agreed to do so.

"Having a ticket to the inauguration is a privilege, it's not something that should be used to make a profit," Schumer said at the time.

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