Topline
Legislation designed to ban oil companies from excessively bumping up gas prices was passed by the House on Thursday, but it faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, as Americans face record-high prices at the pump and gas tops $4 per gallon in all 50 states.
High gas prices at stations on the corner of Valley View Street and Chapman Avenue in Garden Grove, … [+]
Key Facts
Democratic Reps. Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Lizzie Fletcher (Texas), Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) and Jared Golden (Maine) voted no.
The legislation would give President Joe Biden the power to make it illegal for gasoline to be sold at “unconscionably excessive” prices, and would let the Federal Trade Commission seek penalties if evidence pointed to an unfair uptick in gas prices.
Reps. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and Katie Porter (D-Calif.) introduced the bill.
To pass in the Senate, the bill would need the backing of 10 Republican senators plus every Democratic senator.
Key Background
As gas prices soar nationwide, some Democrats have argued unfair corporate practices could be partially to blame. Oil companies Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips earned over $35 billion in combined profits in the first quarter of this year, up 300% from the same period in 2021, the left-leaning Center for American Progress said in a report. However, many experts are wary of blaming alleged price-gouging for the increase in gas prices, instead shifting blame to market forces.
Contra
In a statement Thursday, Murphy argued supply falling short of demand is the root of steep gas prices, and warned the bill could potentially worsen the problem by further reducing supply. Murphy instead urged the Biden Administration to repeal Trump-era tariffs on imported goods in order to lower inflation, and encouraged Congress to pass a bipartisan China competition bill to address tangles in supply chains. Likewise, Clinton-era Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called the price-gouging bill “dangerous nonsense” that could lead to supply shortages in an interview with Bloomberg last week, and compared the focus on price-gouging to former President Donald Trump’s often-ridiculed suggestion that people could stave off the coronavirus by injecting disinfectant.
Chief Critic
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) called the bill a “socialist price-fixing scheme that hurts small businesses and consumers the most,” the Associated Press reported.
Further Reading
House passes gasoline price-gouging bill (The Hill)
U.S. House passes bill to fight oil and gas price gouging (Reuters)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaliedrago/2022/05/19/house-approves-bill-to-ban-gasoline-price-gouging-but-its-unlikely-to-pass-in-senate/