Beginning in March 2007, and after months of discussions, drafting of proposals, negotiations, reviews, meetings, and conference calls, a proposal to regulate online auction activities finished with a sprint to the goal line as the General Assembly wound up its current legislative voting session. On final passage, the vote in the House of Representatives was 191-7, with 5 members absent, and the vote in the Senate was 50-0. On October 8, 2008, Governor Rendell enacted Senate Bill 908, Printer’s Number 2374 into law as Act 89 of 2008.

This bipartisan outcome would not have been possible without the leadership and support of Representative Mike Sturla, Chair of the House Professional Licensure Committee (the initial sponsor of House Bill 1899), Senator Rob Wonderling, Chair of the Senate Communications and High Technology Committee (sponsor of Senate Bill 908) and Senator Tommy Tomlinson, Chair of the Senate Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensure Committee. .

Rep. Sturla noted “I have been working nearly all of this session on how to effectively address the growing problem of online auction fraud.” Senator Wonderling stated, “These 21st century entrepreneurs should not be subject to government red tape. Clearly, they do not serve as a typical auction house and should not be required to adhere to [auction] licensing requirements.”

This effort began with divergent views expressed in Senate Bill 908 and House Bill 1899. However, the final version of Senate Bill 908 is a classic example of success by the stakeholder group convened by these legislators. Included in it were representatives from the Department of State, Office of the Attorney General, Governor’s Office, Representative Mike Sturla and his staff, Senator Rob Wonderling and his staff, Senator Tommy Tomlinson and his staff, eBay, and the PAA. The scope of discussions included diverse political philosophies of the role of government, the need for consumer protection and support for emerging technologies in the modern business environment.

The final work product achieved a delicate balancing of these concerns, and the effort was rewarded with the necessary political support of the House and Senate leaders managing the legislative process and who agreed it should become law. A special “thank you” is also extended to Representative Mark Keller, a PAA member, whose auction law expertise and knowledge is an invaluable resource to his legislative colleagues. PAA was also assisted by Senator Bob Robbins, Caucus Secretary for the Republican Caucus and a long-time supporter of the auction profession, during critical periods throughout this legislative initiative.

Senate Bill 908 amends and renames Act 85 of 1983 as the Auctioneer Licensing and Trading Assistant Registration Act. Trading assistants are defined in the act as someone selling personal property belonging to another for a fee. They are not required to comply with this law when they sell their own property. In lieu of licensure requirements for traditional auctioneers, they must comply with a simpler biennial registration process that includes obtaining a bond, placing monies in escrow, disclosing their registration number, providing written receipts, and being subject to fines and penalties for failure to register or comply with the law. A registered trading assistant appointed by the Governor will represent trading assistants on the State Board of Auctioneer Examiners. The number of members on the board will remain at nine because the trading assistant representative has replaced one of the appointments of a traditional auctioneer member.

The PAA established a benchmark for credibility and clarity in setting forth its position on this proposal. Its board of directors and legislative committee worked tirelessly to evaluate and develop appropriate legislative language to accomplish this objective without over-regulating online sellers’ business activities. The PAA PAC and the Keystone Auctioneers PAC played an important role in supporting this initiative and enabling our message to be delivered through participation in many political events.

PAA can be justifiably proud of this major accomplishment to update an important law that has worked well for many years and which now recognizes new business developments in the auction marketplace while still providing appropriate consumer protection measures.

The full text can be read by going to the web site of the General Assembly at www.legis.state.pa.us/ and typing in ‘SB 908′ under Legislation in the top right corner.