PRINTER'S NO. 2911
No. 352 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY GEORGE, ROONEY, BELARDI, LESCOVITZ, DeWEESE,
SURRA, MUNDY, COY, GRUCELA, CASORIO, McCALL, YUDICHAK, CURRY,
MANN, CORRIGAN, LAUGHLIN, MELIO, STABACK, COLAFELLA,
TRAVAGLIO, SAINATO, TRELLO, KAISER, MARKOSEK, WALKO, LEDERER,
GRUITZA, VAN HORNE, SCRIMENTI, LEVDANSKY, MANDERINO,
MICHLOVIC, EACHUS, CLARK, HANNA AND BATTISTO,
FEBRUARY 2, 2000
Introduced, Feb. 2, 2000
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to call upon its
2 investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, to conduct
3 a comprehensive investigation of whether the recent
4 substantial increases in fuel prices are the result of
5 legitimate market fluctuations.
6 WHEREAS, The price of a barrel of oil is $30, up from just
7 $11 per barrel in December 1998; and
8 WHEREAS, According to the Consumer Price Index, gasoline
9 prices rose by 76.4% in 1999 and by 8.5% in December 1999 alone;
10 and
11 WHEREAS, Gasoline pump prices at $1.29 per gallon are at
12 their highest levels in ten years; and
13 WHEREAS, Based on information from the Energy Information
14 Administration, diesel fuel prices in the central Atlantic
15 region averaged more than $1.38 per gallon the week of January
16 17, 2000, and heating oil prices averaged more than $1.10 per
17 gallon in Pennsylvania for the week ending January 17, 2000; and
1 WHEREAS, These record increases in oil prices, in some cases
2 surpassing those existing during the Persian Gulf War, will have
3 a direct, serious and substantial impact on both the
4 Pennsylvania and national economies; and
5 WHEREAS, These oil price hikes will result in potentially
6 devastating economic consequences for innumerable people
7 employed in the transportation industry in Pennsylvania,
8 including, among others, truckers, service station owners,
9 diesel truck stop and fleet center owners, heating oil retailers
10 and the airlines; and
11 WHEREAS, As a result, hundreds of thousands of homeowners
12 will see vast increases in their home heating costs; therefore
13 be it
14 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
15 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of the
16 United States to call upon its investigative arm, the General
17 Accounting Office, to conduct a comprehensive investigation of
18 whether the recent substantial increases in fuel prices are the
19 result of legitimate market fluctuations or, at least in part,
20 the result of collusion or antitrust violations among and
21 between oil companies; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the Department of Justice of the United States
23 is urged to immediately commence a comprehensive investigation
24 of whether the recent hike in fuel prices is the result of
25 legitimate market fluctuations or illegal collaboration and
26 anti-trust law violations occurring among and between oil
27 companies; and be it further
28 RESOLVED, That there be an immediate increase in LIHEAP
29 eligibility requirements from 110% of the poverty level to 135%
30 of the poverty level and for the Commonwealth to provide for a
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1 $50 increase in crisis funding from $250 to $300 per household;
2 and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
4 the President of the United States, the Secretary of Energy, the
5 presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each member
6 of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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