Bill > S3892

This bill, titled the "Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2026," aims to protect consumers by prohibiting retail food stores from engaging in two main practices: price gouging and surveillance-based price setting. Price gouging is defined as selling an item at a "grossly excessive price," which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), referred to as the "Commission," will define through regulations, potentially including prices that are 120% or more above the average price in the preceding six months, unless the store can prove the price increase is due to uncontrollable external costs. The bill also forbids stores from adjusting prices for individual consumers based on their personal information, such as through facial recognition technology or electronic shelf labels that change prices based on collected data, with exceptions for certain approved discounts and for voluntary use of biometric data for identity verification under strict disclosure and consent requirements. Furthermore, stores using facial recognition technology must clearly inform consumers at their entrance, and larger stores (over 10,000 square feet) are prohibited from using electronic shelf labels, requiring them to use non-digital price displays, though this doesn't prevent offering discounts based on purchase history. The FTC is tasked with enforcing these provisions, and states and consumers are granted rights to bring legal action for violations, with penalties including monetary damages and injunctions, and pre-dispute arbitration waivers are invalidated for these claims. The bill also includes provisions for state law preemption only in cases of direct conflict and authorizes $5 million for its implementation.

Transportation and Infrastructure

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3892/all-info