Rep. Schrier’s Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Bill Passes the House

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the House passed Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)’s bill, the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act that she recently introduced with Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) to protect families’ wallets at the gas pump. Rep. Schrier’s remarks can be found here. Earlier this year, Congresswoman Schrier introduced a bill that would temporarily remove a gas tax through the end of the year.

“At a time when people in my district and across the country are feeling the pain of high prices at the gas pump, Congress needs to be doing all we can to bring down costs,” said Congresswoman Schrier. “Gas prices in my neighborhood were already high at $5/ gallon. Now, for no apparent reason, prices are up another 10% in the last week, at $5.50/ gallon. Meanwhile, neither the price of a barrel of oil nor the cost of refining have changed appreciably. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) needs to have the power to investigate and crack down when there is evidence of real gouging.”

The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would give the President the power to issue an Energy Emergency Declaration that would make it unlawful to increase gasoline and home energy fuel prices in an excessive or exploitative manner. And would give the FTC more tools to crack down on price gouging to protect consumers. The FTC will be able to issue penalties and will prioritize enforcement action on large gas and oil companies.

Last month, Rep. Schrier pushed executives of six of the largest gas and oil companies to do more to bring down the price at the pump, especially when these companies have made record profits. Congresswoman Schrier recently brought up the issue of rising gas prices with Secretary of the Department of Energy Jennifer Granholm during an Energy Subcommittee budget hearing.