WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Rob Menendez (NJ-08) joined Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) on the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act, which would prohibit price gouging by grocery stores, including “personalized price gouging” where stores use consumers’ sensitive personal information against them to raise prices.
“Price gouging hurts families across our communities who are already dealing with increased costs just to put food on the table,” said Congressman Menendez. “I am working to stop practices like price gouging, including through the use of surveillance pricing by joining Congresswoman Tlaib’s Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act. We will take every action necessary to lower grocery costs and protect our communities from being ripped off.”
“The majority of Americans are stressed about rising grocery prices,” said Congresswoman Tlaib. “While our neighbors struggle, corporate grocery chains are feeding customer data into algorithms to decide who can be charged more. Companies should not be allowed to use electronic labeling or your personal information to charge you a higher price. We need to ban corporate price gouging and surveillance pricing.”
Across our country, families are facing an affordability crisis and struggling to put food on the table. Grocery prices have skyrocketed by nearly 30 percent since 2020, while 48 million Americans, including 14 million children, remain food insecure.
The Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act will:
Prohibit price gouging by retail food stores;
Prohibit surveillance pricing in retail food stores, with narrow exceptions for things like senior or student discounts;
Require food stores to disclose the use of facial recognition technology;
Ban electronic shelf labels in large stores;
Establish enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission to hold corporations accountable.
Congressman Rob Menendez serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he has been a leader on addressing rising costs for families in New Jersey and across the country. Congressman Menendez recently introduced legislation to address skyrocketing energy bills and the environmental impacts of data centers built for artificial intelligence across the country, in addition to legislation that empowers working families and lowers childcare costs.
To read the full text of the bill, please click here. More information on this legislation can be found here.
