The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Taking action against price gouging at the pump
Times are tough. Oil prices are sky-high and seem to still be climbing, which is causing increased pressure on our wallets everywhere. Gas prices, home heating fuel and the cost of transporting the goods we need are all rising to points few of us can manage. It seems the only place where these impacts aren’t being felt involve oil companies’ profit margins.
In the state Legislature, elected officials are seeking solutions, at least temporarily, to this economic pressure. While gas prices remain high, they would be even higher if not for a cut to the 25-centper gallon gas tax through December; free bus service through the end of the fall is also intended to lessen the issues many families are feeling. We know that we must try to do as much as we can, which is why more proposals are being considered; the state budget included $600 million in tax cuts for further aid, as one example, and as home heating bills will come due in coming months, I will push to find ways to reduce those costs.
The conflict in Ukraine is only one reason why gas prices are high in Connecticut. Supply remains relatively low globally while demand is high due to increases in travel. Adding to that, New England pays some of the highest fuel costs in the nation due to our distance from major refineries, which increases the costs of transportation and acquisition of fuel. These don’t fully explain why fuel costs continue to surge precipitously when oil companies continue to see surging profits, or why the wholesale price of gasoline in New York has dropped while the average retail cost of gas continues to rise.
Much like $20 bottles of hand sanitizer during the first wave of COVID-19, one could correlate this trend to price-gouging, but that is a difficult claim to prove, at least legally. Attorney General William Tong said in the Hartford Courant this month that retail sellers are often not responsible for price hikes, with potential gouging caused by wholesalers or suppliers raising costs. Under state law, price gouging can only be enforced at the retail level, making the claim difficult to prove.
Being aware of this, in the 2022 legislative session, before the conflict in Ukraine unfolded, I joined state Rep. Michael Winkler in co-sponsoring a bill that would have strengthened our state’s laws on price gouging, which are limited to retail enforcement and can only be enforced during state-declared emergencies. Our bill, House Bill 5463, would have made changes to state law making “unconscionably excessive” fuel pricing unlawful, likely reducing some of the strain our state experiences now. Similarly, Congress attempted to pass similar legislation at the federal level.
Unfortunately, these bills have not become law. In Congress, every Republican voted against the price gouging bill, meaning it would die in the Senate; as such, it has not been called for a vote. In Connecticut, state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, House chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said House
Bill 5463 did not receive even a committee vote due to Republican opposition in a statement to the Hartford Courant. Republican leaders on that committee said there were disagreements on what “price gouging” entails, but did not elaborate further.
This bill was not intended to set arbitrary measures that could ensnare regular businesses in accusations of price gouging, instead meant to target systemic abuse. Tong said the bill’s extension of liabilities would have strengthened the state’s ability to oppose price gouging. State officials and industry experts testified that its protections should be extended even further, to services and fees. When natural disasters, pandemics and global conflicts have left markets volatile and families struggling, this legislation seemed to receive strong support.
Who opposed it? Fuel companies and fuel representatives. Christian Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association — which supplies fuel to more than 1,000 gas stations in our state — opposed the bill, as did the American Petroleum Institute and the Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers of America. They claimed the bills would make it difficult for businesses to operate without fear of accusations of price gouging, but did not provide any details or guidance on how the bill could be better crafted. It seemed they wanted the bill to die, and the bill died.
And now we find ourselves at the start of the summer with gas prices nearing all-time highs after adjustment for inflation and few opportunities for relief at the pump, a situation I feared when I introduced this legislation months ago. When our state needs strong standards against price gouging, we did not accomplish them yet — but I do not intend to stop fighting.
Our bill, House Bill 5463, would have made changes to state law making “unconscionably excessive” fuel pricing unlawful.