Stop Swindling Consumers Desperate for Health and Food Essentials

Target: Frank Pallone, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Goal: Prevent price gouging that puts undue financial burden on consumers.

As the pandemic continues, supplies of essential items like groceries and at-home COVID-19 testing kits are dwindling. Several retailers have been accused of taking advantage of the desperation Americans are feeling by grossly hiking up prices on these products, sometimes more than doubling the price. This unethical price-gouging and greedy profiteering is destroying livelihoods and, in some cases, costing lives.

Some states have taken action to prevent these practices. California, for example, recently passed an initiative severely limiting the inflation of prices on COVID testing kits. North Carolina has a broad price gouging law on the books that neutralizes bad actors from swindling consumers on a number of purchases. Action at a national level is more limited, however. The Biden administration did recently strike a deal with major outlets to prevent the corporations from raising test prices. Yet as soon as that deal expired, influential entities like Walmart and Kroger immediately began driving up prices.

Sign the petition below to encourage a federal price gouging law that protects consumers from the equivalent of retail blackmail.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Congressman Pallone,

COVID-19 tests with a retail price of around 14 dollars are currently selling for as much as 70 dollars. Giant grocery chains like Kroger are being accused of unjustly driving up prices on everything from eggs to cleaning supplies. These same chains are reaping in profits massively bloated from previous years. In the era of unrestrained price gouging, they are the clear winners. The American people are once again the losers.

Executive actions can only do so much. Some states have taken the lead by enacting solid laws targeting price gouging that robs consumers. Congress should follow suit and ensure that every person in every state is safeguarded. In a pandemic world, the stakes are much too high for inaction.

Please follow the example of leaders like North Carolina and introduce an enhanced federal price gouging law that will protect consumers and protect the integrity of the American marketplace.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Oleg Magni