5/24/07-A bill has died that would have created a new violation of the state’s existing price gouging protection law. It failed to meet a deadline to advance.
State law now sets no threshold or definition of what constitutes price gouging.
Sponsored by Rep. David Leibowitz, D-San Antonio, HB70 defined what is an unconscionable price for goods and services, including food, fuel and medicine, to prevent excessive pricing after disasters.
It would have been illegal to price essential goods or services 20 percent more than their cost immediately before a disaster. Price increases implemented by merchants and wholesalers that are attributed to a special event or a traditionally higher period of demand would have been exempt from the proposed rule change.