Senators Announce Legislation to Bring Down Gas Prices Caused by Trump’s Illegal War

SACRAMENTO, CA — California has robust anti-price gouging laws to prevent businesses from exploiting consumers for excessive profit during emergencies. These protections authorize the Governor of California to declare a state of emergency and allow the Attorney General to combat this unfair practice and protect consumers from excessive price increases on basic consumer necessities like food, water, and gasoline in response to natural disasters and other specified emergencies.

However, state law does not explicitly recognize war or armed conflict as qualifying emergencies, even when global conflicts cause significant economic disruption, fuel price spikes, and supply chain instability that directly impact California families. 

In response to the unprecedented and illegal war with Iran, Senators Josh Becker (D–Menlo Park) and Ben Allen (D–Santa Monica) have announced the Wartime Price Gouging Prevention Act (SB 493) to explicitly authorize the Governor to declare a state of emergency during times of war or armed conflict, which would activate California’s strong price gouging protections in those situations.

"Californians deserve protection from price gouging," said Senator Becker. "Global conflicts have immediate consequences for California consumers, especially at the gas pump. The Wartime Price Gouging Prevention Act ensures that we have the tools necessary to intervene in an emergency to protect families from opportunistic price increases when international events disrupt markets."

“We see the need for our strong price gouging protections time and again with each new emergency and disaster that hits California,” said Senator Allen (D-Pacific Palisades). “Now, working families are paying the price of Trump’s war as oil and gas prices have spiked unchecked. It’s become clear we need to extend the same consumer protections that are granted after a disaster at home to global conflicts that can similarly increase prices under the veil of ‘natural’ market forces.”

“Californians shouldn't have to wonder whether the next international crisis will mean another trip to the pump gets even more expensive. Oil companies have turned global instability into an opportunity profit for far too long. If price gouging is illegal during other disasters, it should be illegal during war," said Gracyna Mohabir, Sr. Regulatory Advocate, EnviroVoters. "You can't price gouge the sun or the wind. That's one more reason California's clean energy future is more secure than our dependence on oil.”

The illegal war in Iran is affecting Californians’ ability to afford basic necessities, including gas at the pump, which have skyrocketed since the President launched this attack. Americans have already paid $57 billion more for gas and diesel as a direct result of the Iran war, and currently California laws limit our ability to combat this unfair practice.

SB 493 adds war - as defined by current statute - to the list of emergencies that may support a state or local emergency declaration for purposes of California's anti-price gouging laws. Under the bill, a war emergency would include circumstances where Congress has declared war, the United States is engaged in sustained active military operations against a foreign power, or the United States is participating in United Nations-authorized military actions.

The measure comes as the illegal war with Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz demonstrate how quickly geopolitical instability can create conditions ripe for greedy companies to mark up prices and cause serious damage to Californians’ pocketbooks.

A video of the press conference announcing SB 493 can be viewed here.