Latest news with #SenateBill196
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio bill would cap ‘junk fees' on tickets for concerts, sporting events
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – When purchasing a ticket for a concert or sporting event, customers may notice a plethora of fees added onto the original price. An Ohio bill introduced last week is hoping to lower those extra costs for residents. Senate Bill 196, sponsored by Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus), would prohibit ticket sellers from charging more than a total of $5 in extra fees for a purchase containing one or more tickets. Ohio family pleads for better treatment of mother detained in ICE facility 'We need to do something to help regular everyday families in Ohio that want to do something fun, whether a concert, whether it's a sporting event, and it's not fair that they are overburdened with these fees,' DeMora said. 'Budgets are tight now, people are struggling to make ends meet, but they ought to be able to have some fun in their lives.' The bill deems violating this rule an unfair and deceptive business practice under Ohio law. Violators would be referred to the state attorney general for enforcement, who could take legal action by ordering the company to amend its fees or seeking restitution for consumers, among other options. Service fees average about 27% to 31% of total ticket prices, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. The added costs, which DeMora calls 'junk fees,' have been a longstanding frustration among consumers. 'The fees are outrageous,' DeMora said. 'I mean, if the face value of tickets is $100, you pay $150.' Last year, the United States Department of Justice, along with 30 state and district attorneys general, including Ohio's, filed a civil lawsuit against Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation Entertainment. The ongoing suit alleges the company holds a monopoly on the ticket market, resulting in fans paying more in fees. Mayor: Village won't replace non-working tornado sirens This month, the Federal Trade Commission began enforcing a new rule that requires ticket-sellers to disclose any extra fees upfront, instead of springing them on customers during checkout. Companies also must now avoid 'vague phrases' such as convenience fees, service fees or processing fees and clearly state the purpose of the charges. The new guidelines, however, do not put a price limit on or ban extra fees. DeMora called the new FTC rule a 'good step in the right direction' but said the fees are still too high and need to be addressed. Ticket fees for entertainment events may go to the ticket-seller, venue or event promoter for various costs associated with running the event, as well as maintaining the facility or services offered by the ticket company. NBC4 reached out to Ticketmaster and other entertainment companies for comment on the bill. The only reply came from SeatGeek, which stated that while the company appreciates and respects DeMora's efforts to make live events more affordable, caps on fees can 'distort the market' and have 'unintended consequences.' Columbus officer confronts school board after being denied access to school 'We believe the best way to protect and empower consumers is through transparent pricing, not caps,' Joe Freeman, vice president of government affairs, said. 'That's why we fully support the FTC's new rule, which took effect last week, requiring ticketing platforms to show the full, all-in price upfront.' SB 196 has been referred to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee, where it awaits its first hearing. Two Democrat state senators, Hearcel Craig (Columbus) and Casey Weinstein (Hudson), are cosponsoring the bill. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana considers ‘homelessness courts' as housing advocates stress lack of resources
A relocation notice is posted in front of a makeshift shelter at the Earhart Boulevard homeless encampment Jan. 13, 2025. Those living near the corridor were take to a state-operated transitional center in Gentilly. (John Gray/Verite News) A bill to criminalize public camping and create 'homelessness courts' in Louisiana passed its first hurdle Tuesday, despite objections from housing advocates and religious groups. Senate Bill 196, sponsored by Rep. Robert Owen, R-Slidell, would make 'unauthorized public camping' a crime punishable by six months in jail, a $500 fine or both for the first offense. The second offense imposes a sentence of one to two years in jail and a $1,000 fine. A Senate committee advanced the bill in a 4-3 vote along party lines, with Republicans prevailing. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry supports the legislation. The proposal would also allow parishes to establish a court program for unhoused people, versions of which already exist in other states. They would give defendants the option to have their conviction set aside if they agreed to be placed on supervised probation and enter into long-term substance or mental health treatment. If the person failed to complete the program, they would face criminal sentencing. The defendant would be responsible for paying program costs, unless a judge waives them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Prosecutors and judges would have the authority to decide whether homeless defendants, facing a misdemeanor or felony charge, could be diverted to the homelessness court program. People charged with a violent crime or sex offense, or with a past homicide or sex crime conviction, would not be eligible to take part. Owen's bill also excludes persons accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs that resulted in someone's death. Disagreement over the bill came down to views on housing solutions. Its supporters argued enough resources exist for homeless people, but they need to be convinced to accept assistance. 'We need to have some kind of stick and carrot, essentially, attached to the bill that gives it a little teeth,' Owen told the Illuminator after the hearing. He added that amendments to his proposal are likely. Organizations against the bill are those that advocate and support people without housing. They include the Travelers Aid Society and Unity of Greater New Orleans. Representatives with the Louisiana Interchurch Conference and the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops also testified against the proposal. They argued the bill criminalizes homelessness without offering housing solutions, funding or support services. Sufficient affordable housing and needed treatment programs simply don't exist in Louisiana, they said. 'Housing costs have doubled in the last 10 years. Sending these people to jail is a travesty,' said David Larsen, 50, who told lawmakers on the committee he was homeless for seven years. Sens. Joe Bouie and Royce Duplessis, both Democrats from New Orleans, expressed skepticism about the expense of setting up homelessness courts falling on state and local governments and lack of housing support for people as they go through addiction or mental health treatment. Bouie specifically took issue with the bill's requirement for a 12-month treatment plan. 'What're they doing during that time if they don't have housing?' Bouie asked. 'Where do they go? Back on the streets?' Duplessis noted he lives near encampments in New Orleans, where he often sees homeless people who are not suffering from behavioral health issues and would benefit from simple financial support. According to federal data, 40% to 60% of homeless people in the U.S. have a job, but their wages have not kept up with the cost of housing. 'They literally can't afford a place to live,' he said. Meghan Garvey of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys said Owen's bill would only exacerbate homelessness in the state. 'This isn't informed by any of the best practices' the American Bar Association recommends for homelessness courts, Garvey said, stressing the bill is 'creating a whole new crime.' Will Harrell of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, which operates the city jail, testified against opposed the bill. He warned it would worsen chronic capacity issues there. 'There is no more room in the inn,' he said. According to Orleans Sheriff Susan Hutson, it costs $53,000 to keep someone in jail for a year. Permanent supportive housing costs about $16,000 annually, said Angela Owczarek with the New Orleans housing advocacy organization Jane's Place. Christopher Walters, the governor's deputy general counsel, appeared before the committee to support Owen's bill and rejected opponents' framing of it. 'I don't believe this is criminalizing homelessness,' he said. 'It's criminalizing actions like erecting tents on public property.' Walters and Owen suggested sufficient housing vouchers and nonprofit services already exist to help people. Owen also rejected the idea that housing is the solution to homelessness. 'I just don't think building more housing is the way out of this,' the senator told the committee. Housing advocates provided data in the meeting to contradict Owen's statement. Jennifer Carlyle of East Baton Rouge's Continuum of Care said her homelessness service provider coalition has 2,000 people on its waiting list for housing vouchers, many of whom have waited for months or years for rental assistance. Louisiana is short 117,000 affordable housing units, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. 'We're asking people to get housed without having housing to put them in,' Carlyle said. Some bill opponents also stressed that a person's homelessness does not reflect a lack of desire to be housed. Donna Paramore of Travelers Aid said 98% of the people her nonprofit places in homes stay housed. Detox and treatment centers often have weeks-long waitlists for beds, according to Owczarek. 'These resources don't exist in our state,' she said. Detractors of the bill also said it would likely disproportionately affect people of color, noting that more than 55% of tenants facing eviction in New Orleans are Black women. 'Just weeks ago, a single mom with five kids was sleeping in a van on my corner because no family shelter spaces were available,' Owczarek told the committee. 'There's nothing to stop this bill from leading to her arrest.' Owen's bill comes in the wake of a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that asserted it is not cruel and unusual punishment to arrest people who are sleeping outside when no shelter space is available. The bill is similar to model legislation supported by the Cicero Institute, a public policy group whose backers include Elon Musk. Cicero has two lobbyists registered in Louisiana. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Morrisey signs bill into law increasing criminal penalties for drug dealers in WV
Gov. Patrick Morrisey speaks in Morgantown, during the signage of Senate Bill 196 on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (West Virginia Office of the Gov. Patrick Morrisey | Courtesy photo) Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Thursday signed into law a bill to drastically increase criminal penalties for dealing and transporting certain types of drugs in West Virginia. Senate Bill 196 — dubbed Lauren's Law in honor of a Morgantown woman who died in 2020 after accidentally overdosing on drugs laced with fentanyl — passed the Legislature during the last days of the 2025 regular session. The bill introduces mandatory minimum sentences into state code for transporting cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into West Virginia and removes alternative sentencing options — like probation or home confinement — for those who are jailed on those charges. It also increases sentences against those charged with manufacturing, delivering or possessing with the intent to deliver a Schedule I or II narcotic or meth from one to five years up to three to 15 years. Anyone who is charged with those crimes who has more than five grams of fentanyl, among other quantities of other drugs, could face 10 to 30 years in jail. The law uses weight requirements that can make someone delivering a drug containing any fentanyl to be charged with conspiracy. It also includes language for the crime of delivering a drug that results in someone's death, with increased penalties for failing to render aid to someone who is overdosing. During the bill signing on Thursday, Morrisey said he believes the law will be crucial to enhancing enforcement against drug crimes and deterring drug dealers from operating in the state. 'In West Virginia, we all know we've had a long and arduous history fighting substance abuse. It goes back many, many decades, and it's ripped through our communities like a vengeance. It's destroyed many lives. It's laid waste to generations of West Virginia,' Morrisey said. 'Lauren's Law, we think, can be instrumental in helping our state deal with the drug epidemic. It's part of the enforcement side of the equation, and it takes direct aim at the drug dealers.' But advocates for people who use drugs and people in recovery worry that the law will do more harm than good. Oftentimes, people who use drugs are also dealing them as a way to pay for their addictions. And it's not uncommon for individuals to be unaware that the drugs they are using or dealing contain fentanyl, advocates told West Virginia Watch upon the passage of SB 192 in the Legislature. This bill, the advocates say, could open up low-level dealers to heightened penalties that will make it even more difficult for them to get help for their disease. There is no data that shows stronger drug penalties anywhere curbing overdose or fatality rates related to the drug epidemic. Instead of seeing higher criminal penalties that could have unintended consequences for people with substance use disorder, those in recovery and addiction spheres would like to see the state focus more on public health investments that are proven to lessen the impact of addiction on communities. But SB 196 was only one of a handful of bills that was passed by the Legislature this session concerning drugs or addiction. And none of the bills that did pass related to public health initiatives, treatment for addiction or support for people with substance use disorder. 'The answer [to the opioid epidemic] is in public health investment. The last few years, we've seen our state — thanks to COVID federal funding — make additional investments in public health resources, in getting opioid reversal drugs into the hands of people who are using and people who care about them, and we've seen the fruits of that,' Sara Whitaker, the senior criminal legal policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, told West Virginia Watch earlier this month. 'SB 196 has none of that, and it's not going to change anything for the better.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Morrisey signs 'Lauren's Law' to boost drug penalties
Apr. 24—MORGANTOWN — Gov. Patrick Morrisey vowed vigilance Thursday afternoon as he signed a bill into law that will deliver harsher penalties to those found guilty of trafficking drugs causing death in the Mountain State. "We're gonna constantly be looking for you, " he said. "We're gonna be targeting you, and by God, we're gonna hold you accountable." Senate Bill 196, is now officially known as "Lauren's Law " on the books in West Virginia. The law delivers penalties of up to 40 years in prison to offending dealers. Lauren's Law increases penalties for drug-related crimes, including enhanced sentencing for the delivery of fentanyl ; increased penalties for transporting fentanyl into the state and conspiracy to transport ; mandatory prison sentences for top-tier drug offenses ; creating a new offense for delivery resulting in death, with a mandatory 10-to 40-year sentence ; and creating a new offense for offenders labeled "drug kingpins " with a mandatory sentence of 10-to-40 years. The bill is named in honor of Lauren Cole, a 26-year-old Morgantown woman who died in 2020 after taking a dose of heroin laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl, in its medicinal, prescription form, is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The governor, who calls the drug "a weapon of mass destruction, " said families and communities here have languished under its shadow for too long. West Virginia regularly leads the nation in drug overdose deaths. With Lauren's parents, Michael and Cherie Cole, looking on, Morrisey signed the bill just down the hall from Lauren's Wish — a nonprofit, 24-bed triage center they helped found in the years after their daughter's death. The center, which offers counseling and additional help to overdose survivors, is located in Hazel's House of Hope on Scott Avenue. It just saw its 900th client earlier this year. That's a sad irony, Michael Cole said. Lauren was a social worker who was good at her job and often counseled those battling addiction. Right before she died, she had talked with her dad about launching just such a clinic. "We gotta save our kids, " he said after the signing. "We're losing a generation." Cherie Cole brushed tears while holding on tight to the pen the governor had used to sign the bill carrying her daughter's name. "Lauren, we did it, honey, " she said.
Dominion Post
25-04-2025
- Health
- Dominion Post
Morrisey signs 'Lauren's Law' to boost drug penalties
MORGANTOWN — Gov. Patrick Morrisey vowed vigilance Thursday afternoon as he signed a bill into law that will deliver harsher penalties to those found guilty of trafficking drugs causing death in the Mountain State. 'We're gonna constantly be looking for you,' he said. 'We're gonna be targeting you, and by God, we're gonna hold you accountable.' Senate Bill 196, is now officially known as 'Lauren's Law' on the books in West Virginia. The law delivers penalties of up to 40 years in prison to offending dealers. Lauren's Law increases penalties for drug-related crimes, including enhanced sentencing for the delivery of fentanyl; increased penalties for transporting fentanyl into the state and conspiracy to transport; mandatory prison sentences for top-tier drug offenses; creating a new offense for delivery resulting in death, with a mandatory 10- to 40-year sentence; and creating a new offense for offenders labeled 'drug kingpins' with a mandatory sentence of 10-to-40 years. The bill is named in honor of Lauren Cole, a 26-year-old Morgantown woman who died in 2020 after taking a dose of heroin laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl, in its medicinal, prescription form, is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. The governor, who calls the drug 'a weapon of mass destruction,' said families and communities here have languished under its shadow for too long. West Virginia regularly leads the nation in drug overdose deaths. With Lauren's parents, Michael and Cherie Cole, looking on, Morrisey signed the bill just down the hall from Lauren's Wish – a nonprofit, 24-bed triage center they helped found in the years after their daughter's death. The center, which offers counseling and additional help to overdose survivors, is located in Hazel's House of Hope on Scott Avenue. It just saw its 900th client earlier this year. That's a sad irony, Michael Cole said. Lauren was a social worker who was good at her job and often counseled those battling addiction. Right before she died, she had talked with her dad about launching just such a clinic. 'We gotta save our kids,' he said after the signing. 'We're losing a generation.' Cherie Cole brushed tears while holding on tight to the pen the governor had used to sign the bill carrying her daughter's name. 'Lauren, we did it, honey,' she said.
