Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
This bill (Stop Disaster Price Gouging Act) prohibits certain price increases for essential goods, services, hotel lodging, residential rentals, and reconstruction services in areas covered by a Presidential major disaster or emergency declaration. It caps post-declaration increases at 10% (short-term) and bars new prices more than 50% above seller cost for 30 days, with exceptions for documented supplier cost increases, tariffs, seasonable hotel adjustments, and some rental adjustments.
Liberal emphasizes consumer protections and private enforcement mechanisms.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a clearly focused substantive statutory change that sets concrete pricing limits during declared disasters and embeds enforcement through the FTC, State attorneys general, and private causes of action.
This bill (Stop Disaster Price Gouging Act) prohibits certain price increases for essential goods, services, hotel lodging, residential rentals, and reconstruction services in areas covered by a Presidential major disaster or emergency declaration.
It caps post-declaration increases at 10% (short-term) and bars new prices more than 50% above seller cost for 30 days, with exceptions for documented supplier cost increases, tariffs, seasonable hotel adjustments, and some rental adjustments.
The Federal Trade Commission enforces the law as an unfair or deceptive practice, States may bring parens patriae actions, and private plaintiffs have a right to sue with possible treble damages for willful violations.
Text is targeted and administrable, appealing as consumer protection, but litigation exposure, industry pushback, and Senate hurdles lower likelihood.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a clearly focused substantive statutory change that sets concrete pricing limits during declared disasters and embeds enforcement through the FTC, State attorneys general, and private causes of action. It integrates with existing law (Stafford Act and FTC Act) and anticipates several exceptions.
Liberal emphasizes consumer protections and private enforcement mechanisms.
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Liberal emphasizes consumer protections and private enforcement mechanisms.
This persona is likely to view the bill favorably as a consumer-protection measure that prevents exploitative pricing after disasters.
They will emphasize protections for vulnerable households during emergencies and like enforcement via the FTC plus private and state enforcement paths.
They may press for robust implementation and wide scope for essential goods definitions.
A pragmatic centrist would generally support the bill's goal of preventing price gouging while wanting clearer implementation mechanics and balanced enforcement.
They will appreciate FTC enforcement and state/private enforcement but worry about compliance burdens on small businesses and ambiguous exception standards.
They may favor modest technical fixes to definitions, penalty structure, and evidentiary standards.
This persona will be skeptical, viewing the bill as federal price control that interferes with market signals during crises.
They will argue caps can discourage supply delivery, create shortages, and expand FTC authority over commerce.
They may nonetheless note the bill includes exceptions and modest penalty caps, but still prefer state-driven responses or narrowly tailored federal measures.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Text is targeted and administrable, appealing as consumer protection, but litigation exposure, industry pushback, and Senate hurdles lower likelihood.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Liberal emphasizes consumer protections and private enforcement mechanisms.
Text is targeted and administrable, appealing as consumer protection, but litigation exposure, industry pushback, and Senate hurdles lower…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a clearly focused substantive statutory change that sets concrete pricing limits during declared disasters and embeds enforcement through the FTC, State attorneys…
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