Harder Bill to Stop Gas Price Gouging Passes the House
The average price of a gallon of gas in California is currently $6.06, almost $2 more than it was one year ago
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Josh Harder’s bill to stop gas price gouging passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Harder originally introduced the bill on April 6th as the Price Gouging Prevention Act. After working with his colleagues on a final package to prevent the oil industry from engaging in gas price gouging, he is leading the passage of the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act.
The bill will 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. It will also give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to issue penalties for price gouging and prioritize penalizing larger companies while protecting independently owned gas stations.
“While families in the Central Valley wonder whether they can afford to drive to work every morning, oil companies and their executives are soaking up record profits. It’s greed, it’s wrong, and it has to stop,” said Rep. Harder. “Today, I was proud to see the House vote to pass my bill to outlaw price gouging on gas.”
The average price of a gallon of gas in California is currently $6.06, almost $2 more than it was one year ago. While gas prices climbed to record highs last year, the largest oil and gas companies saw soaring profits of $174 billion. In 2021, Exxon Mobile's revenues increased by 57%, Chevron's profits increased by 84%, Shell's profits increased by 49%, and BP's profits increased by 45%.
Rep. Harder has been leading the charge to tackle gas prices for months. In November, he urged leaders in Sacramento to suspend any future increases in the tax. In December, he wrote directly to Governor Newsom urging him to immediately cut the gas tax and published an op-ed in Fox Business titled I'm a Democrat and it's time for our government to stop making gas more expensive. In February, he introduced legislation to suspend the federal gas tax. And last month he introduced legislation to send drivers $500 gas price rebate checks.
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