NIVA California is asking Governor Newsom to veto AB 1349.
We sponsored this bill. We testified for it. The version that passed the Legislature on August 31, 2026 — 29–5 in the Senate, with the Assembly concurring the same day — is not the bill we supported.
What AB 1349 was supposed to do
When Assemblymember Isaac Bryan introduced AB 1349, it took direct aim at practices that have hurt California fans and independent venues for years.
- Speculative ticketing. Resellers listing tickets they don’t actually own, then scrambling to fill the order — or not filling it at all.
- Bots. Automated buying that beats real fans to inventory the moment it goes on sale.
- Impersonation sites. Websites and URLs built to look like a venue’s own box office, so fans think they’re buying direct when they aren’t.
Those are the problems our members deal with every week. A fan buys a ticket that doesn’t exist, and the venue takes the phone call. That’s why NIVA California signed on as a sponsor and stayed at the table through months of hearings.
What changed
Amendments adopted on August 28 reshaped the bill in the final days of session. The new language added explicit protections for tickets withheld by rights holders and venue operators, along with a broad carve-out allowing California professional sports organizations to withhold and manage ticket inventory for business purposes.
The result is a bill that shifts legal exposure onto independent venues, festivals, and promoters — while the marketplaces it was written to regulate come out better than they went in.
We were not alone in reaching that conclusion. NIVA and a coalition of 28 music, labor, venue, and consumer organizations asked legislators to vote no.
Why this matters for local stages
Independent venues in California run on thin margins and small staffs. New legal exposure doesn’t get absorbed by a compliance department, because there isn’t one. It gets absorbed by the room — and eventually by the shows that don’t get booked, the staff who don’t get hired, and the artists who don’t get a stage.
Meanwhile the practices that actually hurt fans remain effectively untouched for the largest operators.
We would rather have no bill than this bill. A veto doesn’t end this fight. It resets it, so California can pass ticketing reform that does what the first draft promised.
What you can do
The Governor has until September 30 to sign or veto. That’s our window.
Ask Governor Newsom to veto AB 1349. It takes about two minutes. nivacalifornia.org/veto-ab-1349
Then share it. Send it to your staff, the artists who play your room, and the people who fill it. Messages from constituents in their own words carry the most weight.
Where we go next
AB 1720, which would have capped most resale prices at 10% above face value, was held in Senate Appropriations on August 13 and is finished for this session. With AB 1349 headed the way it is, California ends the year without the ticketing reform its fans and independent stages need.
We thank Assemblymember Bryan for taking on an industry that fights hard to keep the current system in place.
We’ll be back next session — earlier, with more venues at the table, and pushing for language that survives the final week intact.
NIVA California unites independent venues and promoters to protect local stages and strengthen the live music workforce statewide.