Maryland businesses selling certain essential goods or services will be prohibited from raising their prices above 15% during a state of emergency if the General Assembly passes a proposal from Attorney General Anthony Brown before the end of the legislative session in a few weeks.
Each chamber has already passed a version of the bill. The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday voted to send a version of the bill from the House of Delegates, HB 775, to the Senate floor for a vote. The Senate voted 36-9 to pass an identical version of the bill on Friday of last week.
In March 2020, Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order prohibiting businesses selling essential goods or services from increasing their prices by more than 10%. The executive order, which restricted price gouging for items like food, medicine, childcare and car parts, expired in 2021.
More than 30 states and Washington, D.C. have similar policies, including neighboring Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
