H.R. 1252 (110th): Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act

Introduced:
Feb 28, 2007 (110th Congress, 2007–2009)
Sponsor:
Rep. Bart Stupak [D-MI1]
Status:
Died (Passed House)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 2129 (111th) on Apr 27, 2009.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on May 23, 2007 but was never passed by the Senate.

Progress
Introduced Feb 28, 2007
Referred to Committee Feb 28, 2007
Passed House May 23, 2007
Referred to Committee Jun 05, 2007
Votes

House Vote on Passage
May 23, 2007 1:30 p.m.
Passed 284/141

Cosponsors
125 cosponsors (122D, 3R) (show)
Committees

House Education and the Workforce

House Energy and Commerce

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and other fuels, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated May 24, 2007.
11 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

5/23/2007.
Section 2 -
Makes it unlawful during a period proclaimed by the President as an energy emergency to sell gasoline or any other petroleum distillate at a price that:
(1) is unconscionably excessive; or
(2) indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage of the circumstances of an emergency to increase prices unreasonably.
Authorizes the President to issue an energy emergency proclamation and to cite the geographic area covered, the gasoline or other petroleum distillate covered, and the time period that it shall be in effect.
Limits such proclamation to a period of up to 30 consecutive days, but authorizes renewals of up to 30 days.
Authorizes a proclamation to include a period of up to one week preceding a reasonably foreseeable emergency.
Sets forth factors to be considered in determining whether a violation of this Act has occurred.
Declares unlawful any false or misleading reporting to a federal agency of price information with actual knowledge, or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances, that such information is false or misleading.
Exempts from this Act a sale of gasoline or other petroleum distillate transaction on a futures market.
Section 3 -
Empowers the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general to enforce this Act. Subjects any person who violates this Act to specified civil and criminal penalties. States that the criminal penalty may be imposed only pursuant to a criminal action brought by the Attorney General or other officer of the Department of Justice.
Section 5 -
Provides that a state, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action in federal district court to enforce the unconscionable pricing prohibition of this Act, or to impose the civil penalties authorized by this Act, whenever the state's attorney general has reason to believe that the interests of state residents have been or are being threatened or adversely affected by a violation of this Act, or a regulation under it, which involves a retail sale.
Section 6 -
Requires fines and penalties collected under this Act to be deposited in a separate Consumer Relief Trust Fund in the Treasury to provide assistance under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) Program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Section 7 -
Declares that nothing in this Act preempts state law.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)