Oh yea, no need for local action

Governor Kulongoski's office recently stated that there is no need to call the legislature into a special session to pass a law to help stop gas price gouging.

Twenty-one states already have laws. More at looking at passing them. But not Oregon.

And why is that?

Because Kulongoski fired off a letter to President Bush "urging a crackdown on oil companies gouging consumers."

As if anything will be done anytime soon. Because of course BUsh just jumps to action anytime he gets a letter from governors on an issue.

And this is the leader of our state?

Congress has much bigger items on its plate, including Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, two openings in the Supreme Court, etc. Even though gas gouging is important, it's not likely to be the first, or even second, thing on Congress' agenda.

If Congress was going to be looking at it soon, I doubt that Congressman Peter DeFazio would be urging the governor to call the special session.

According to the Oregonian:

"Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, urged Kulongoski to call the Legislature into an "immediate special session" for the purpose of passing a law protecting consumers from price gouging at times of emergency."

But the governor's office is convinced that now that he's written to Bush, along with several other governors, that something will be done.

Does Kulongoski have his head in the sand?!?

Some are skeptical that an anti-gouging bill could pass in the legislature.

During the regular session, Senate Bill 209 passed 24-5. This bill, according to the Oregonian, was a "'modest proposal' giving the attorney general authority to intervene in suspected price gouging during periods of emergency."

Read the full Oregonian story here.

The bill, like so many others, did not even receive a hearing in the state House.

We've already seen price gouging around the state after Hurricane Katrina. We had a Safeway in the Portland metro area that was selling gas for more than 20 cents over the price of stations like Chevron and almost 30 cents more than stations like Arco. There was no reason for this increase, which lasted for weeks.

We need the ability for the state to investigate and prosecute those stations that are gouging people on gas prices.

Please contact Governor Kulongoski and urge him to call a special session on this issue: 503.378.4582 (best way to contact) or http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml