Bipartisan legislation takes aim at gas prices

“Gas prices in Missouri are nearly $3 a gallon, so people are already feeling the pinch on the pocketbook,” McCaskill said in a news release.

“Without strong laws banning price gouging, we will remain vulnerable to market manipulation and consumer exploitation in times of national emergencies, as we learned in the cases of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.”

The bill would establish safeguards against exploitation of consumers by

oil companies at the federal level, as no federal laws exist to address gas price gouging.

The legislation also would give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to investigate and fine companies found guilty of such actions. 

The bill would give the president the authority to declare a national energy emergency when shortages of gas supplies threaten to hurt the welfare or economic well-being of Americans.

During such an energy emergency, those found guilty of price gouging would be subject to additional penalties. With the energy emergency declaration, the FTC would be required to establish a hotline to provide gas price information to consumers and conduct price gouging investigations in areas affected by the energy emergency.  

Information about current gas prices in Missouri is available at www.missouri

gasprices.com.