Washington AG doubles down on bid to fight pandemic price gouging
Feb 8, 2021, 1:13 PM | Updated: Feb 9, 2021, 7:17 am
(MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
Over the last year, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has sought to end pandemic-fueled price gouging for essential items, like masks and hand sanitizer. Ferguson penned an editorial over the weekend, as part of a push to put a law on the books that explicitly ends the practice once and for all.
Washington AG Ferguson goes after coronavirus price-gougers
The Attorney General’s Office has fielded numerous reports of price gouging in Washington since the start of the pandemic, touting over 3,000 phone calls to businesses and residents to investigate claims made by customers. That led to dozens of cease and desist letters to offending companies and businesses.
But while that effort was largely successful in curbing the practice, Ferguson points out that it was only necessary because the state lacks set-in-stone protections for consumers.
“All this work to combat price gouging was necessary to compensate for an unfortunate gap in state law,” he wrote.
According to Ferguson, the state’s consumer protection laws broadly restrict “unfair business practices,” but don’t expressly outlaw price gouging. He says the state is “an outlier in this respect,” given that 36 states — and Washington, D.C. — explicitly prohibit it.
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The law he’s proposing to fix that is SB 5191, which lays out a list of protected goods and services in the event a state of emergency, akin to what we’ve seen with the pandemic, is declared. That would include health care services, medical supplies, rental housing rates, motel rates, gasoline, and emergency supplies like toiletries, batteries, and soap.
Businesses that do engage in what Ferguson labels “predatory price gouging” would be subject to a $25,000 per violation fine.
“Those who put profits over people during an emergency must be held accountable,” he stated.
Ferguson’s bill was presented in the state Senate’s law and justice committee Monday morning, and is scheduled for an executive session in that same committee at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.
