Hinchey and Carney help pass bill against gas gouging

Gasoline price more than $3.32 per gallon for regular in Narrowsburg

BY TOM KANE

tomkane@riverreporter.com

WASHINGTON, DC - Two area Congressmen served in the leadership role of the passage of a bill to protect the public from gasoline price gouging. The bipartisan bill passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 284-141.

Congressmen Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Chris Carney (D-PA) led the House toward ensuring that no gas suppliers and retailers get away with excessively raising prices with passage of the “Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act,” which was originated by Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI).

“The bill will give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the explicit authority to investigate and punish those who artificially inflate the price of energy,” Hinchey said.

Hinchey used his seat on the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) to press the FTC to use the Sherman Antitrust Act to go after oil company mergers and consolidators that are taking advantage of consumers at the pump.

“Now we learn that if Congress had enacted anti-price gouging legislation when it was first proposed 18 months ago, we could have had laws on the books today against gouging and excess profits,” Carney said. “Sadly, this administration is too close to the oil industry, and not enough is being done to protect working families from record-high prices at the pump.”

To date, the FTC has never brought a gas price gouging case to court. The federal government has never accurately defined “price gouging,” so the FTC is unable to prosecute, Carney said.

“Greater consolidation in the oil industry means that there are fewer companies providing gas to the public, which in turn is driving prices higher,” Hinchey said. “Between consolidation and the manipulation of refinery production, the oil industry is taking advantage of the American people.”

Move on to the Senate

The House bill is now moving through the U.S. Senate, championed by Senator Marie Cantwell of Washington State, who has offered it as an amendment to a larger energy bill. The Senate Commerce Committee has approved her amendment. “That means that the movement to stop gouging now moves to the floor of the Senate as an amendment to a larger bill called Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) which Senator Cantwell is sponsoring,” said Jeff Lieberson, press director for Hinchey’s office. “It may take a little longer to have it pass the Senate but it looks like it’s going to happen.”

It’s not the gas station

“It’s not us, it’s the big oil companies,” said Beth Cortese, owner of Beth’s Country Store, a convenience store/gas station in Narrowsburg. “I have been adding a certain profit to the price I have to pay so that I can make a living. The price the oil company charges us is going up constantly. My profit margins have always been minimal.”

Unlike a Pennsylvania gas station owner, Cortese has to pay a tax in addition to the New York sales tax of 7.75 percent. “It’s a special tax called gas tax and that puts the price here in New York way up. So, don’t look at us [gas station owners] as the culprits.”