Congressmen Greg Stanton and Ruben Gallego have asked the House Judiciary Committee, U.S. attorney general, the Federal Trade Commission and the Arizona attorney general to stamp down on price gouging of personal protective equipment worn by first responders.
In a letter, Stanton stated, “a price gouging chain in Arizona from manufacturers to vendors led some to attempt to charge the city of Phoenix Fire and Police Departments nearly 600% more than usual prices for N95 masks.”
In a separate interview, he said, “I believe in the free market but during a time of pandemic and crisis, we need to control the prices so that people aren’t making an unfair amount of profit under these circumstances.”
Stanton also stated in the letter what happened in Phoenix is similar to ongoing reports of price gouging across the U.S.
Later on Friday, Gall's, the Lexington, Kentucky, company that was the subject of Stanton and Gallego's push for stricter controls on price gouging issued a statement on social media that read, in part, the company has, "pledged to offer N95 and other protective masks to its public safety partners at no profit to the company."
In a press release, Mayor Kate Gallego stated, "I welcome Galls’ commitment to eliminate their profit margins on N95 and other protective masks so that our first responders and health care workers have what they need to stay safe. They did the right thing."
