WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) last week introduced the Gasoline Consumer Anti-Price-Gouging Protection Act (S. 94), which is intended, he said, to protect American consumers from dishonest suppliers of gasoline. The measure makes it unlawful to raise the price of gasoline to an unconscionable level during times of crisis.
Gas prices can rise sharply immediately following a supply interruption like that which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Katrina, said [image-nocss] Stevens. But in the aftermath of major events such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack or geopolitical instability in oil-producing countries, Americans who are the victims of these events should not also become the victims of price gouging.
So far, 28 states have enacted price gouging laws that are carefully crafted to meet their unique local circumstances. The Stevens bill supplements existing state laws by creating strict federal price gouging language, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). It closes the existing regulatory gap by combating regional and multi-state violations of price gouging with substantial civil and criminal penalties.
The legislation would permit civil penalties up to $500,000, in the case of an independent small business and up to $5 million for other suppliers. Criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment would be authorized for persons in violation of this law.
The bill provides suppliers of gasoline the flexibility to adjust prices, as necessary, during a crisis to maintain the free flow of commerce, while still protecting consumers from exorbitant and unjustified price hikes, Stevens claimed.
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