The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- New York (State legislature; enforced by the Attorney General) · New York
- Level
- State
- Authority
- N.Y. Const. art. III; GBL 396-r(5)-(6) (Attorney General enforcement and rulemaking)
- Issued
- 2020-06-06 June 6, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-06-06 (immediately) (read as 2020-06-06)
- End
- Permanent statute; its prohibition operates 'during any abnormal disruption of the market... which results in the declaration of a state of emergency by the governor' (the COVID-19 state disaster emergency ran March 7, 2020 to June 24, 2021)
- In force
- June 6, 2020 (no end date recorded; counted as in force for 120 days)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q2
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Other
- Addressees
- every party within the chain of distribution, 'including any manufacturer, supplier, wholesaler, distributor or retail seller' of goods or services vital and necessary for health, safety and welfare
- Functions reached
- SF and wholesale pricing of every manufacturer, supplier, wholesaler, distributor and retailer of essential goods and services in New York
- SC business-to-business sales within the chain of distribution
- CB
- OP pricing and margin records (profit-margin defense)
- Collection
- State utilities, housing and agriculture agencies AGY-ST-UTILITIES-HOUSING-AG
Operative words
2. During any abnormal disruption of the market for goods and services vital and necessary for the health, safety and welfare of consumers or the general public, no party within the chain of distribution of such goods or services or both shall sell or offer to sell any such goods or services or both for an amount which represents an unconscionably excessive price. For purposes of this section, the phrase 'abnormal disruption of the market' shall mean any change in the market, whether actual or imminently threatened, resulting from stress of weather, convulsion of nature, failure or shortage of electric power or other source of energy, strike, civil disorder, war, military action, national or local emergency, or other cause of an abnormal disruption of the market which results in the declaration of a state of emergency by the governor. For the purposes of this section, the term goods and services shall include (a) consumer goods and services used, bought or rendered primarily for personal, family or household purposes, (b) essential medical supplies and services used for the care, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any illness or disease, and (c) any other essential goods and services used to promote the health or welfare of the public. This prohibition shall apply to all parties within the chain of distribution, including any manufacturer, supplier, wholesaler, distributor or retail seller of goods or services or both sold by one party to another when the product sold was located in the state prior to the sale.
Enforcement
GBL 396-r(4)-(5): Attorney General action for injunction, restitution and civil penalties of $25,000 per violation or three times the gross receipts for the relevant goods or services, whichever is greater (as amended); Attorney General rulemaking authority
Notes
Before the amendment GBL 396-r reached 'consumer goods' sold to consumers; ch. 90 extended it to medical supplies and services and to all business-to-business sales in the chain of distribution, and multiplied the penalty.
Retrieval noteBill text as introduced and enacted (S.8189, no amendment); chapter and signing date from the Senate bill status page ('Signed Chap. 90', June 6, 2020), read.