Section 2. Purpose.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) In an economic market there are periods of
disruption of the market which cause an uneven flow of supply
of consumer goods. During these periods, consumer demand
outweighs supply, sometimes heavily.
(2) These periods of disruption result from many
factors, including extreme weather conditions, depletion of
stockpiles, labor strikes, civil disorder, natural or manmade
emergencies or disasters and military action.
(3) During these periods, parties involved in the sale
and resale of consumer goods and services sometimes take
unfair advantage of consumers in this Commonwealth by
charging unconscionably excessive prices, or price gouging.
(4) To prevent this, the General Assembly should
prohibit price gouging and impose penalties on violators.