# 119-hr-4720: Cracking Down on Price Gouging Act

119-hr-4720, Cracking Down on Price Gouging Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4720
- As of: 2026-07-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-4720
- Congress: 119
- Title: Cracking Down on Price Gouging Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-07-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19] (D-NY)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-19

## Summary

**Stops price gouging and hoarding of essential goods during declared scarcities.** This bill would add a clear prohibition and definitions into the Defense Production Act so regulators can identify and act against hoarding and unfairly excessive prices in shortages. - Families and consumers: Protects buyers of critical goods like food, medicine, and energy by banning sales that "grossly exceed" local market prices when a scarcity is designated or an acute shortage occurs. It creates a presumptive 10% gross disparity benchmark to flag unfair pricing. - Businesses and sellers: Carves out an exception for legitimate business needs or costs outside a seller's control so higher prices tied to real cost increases may be allowed. - Enforcement and penalties: Ties the price-gouging rules to a Presidential scarcity declaration or an acute shortage trigger. Willful violations would face the greater of $20,000 or 300% of the revenue generated by the violating sales.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Stronger shopper protections during shortages: benefit, medium. If enacted, it would ban hoarding and unfairly high prices for critical goods during shortages. It would apply when the President labels a material scarce or when an acute shortage begins. A price 10% or more above the price before the designation or shortage would be presumed unfair, though smalle…
- Big fines for willful price gouging: cost, high. If enacted, businesses that willfully gouge prices and are convicted could face large fines. The fine would be the greater of $20,000 or 300% of the revenue from the illegal sales. It would apply only after a court conviction for a willful violation of the anti-gouging rules.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-9090: Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-4720 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4720)

## Related
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-6900: American Affordability Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6900)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-9090: Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9090)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4720 (as of 2026-07-19).