A law that would have given states more authority to crack down on rogue moving companies has been severely weakened in the Transportation Appropriations Bill.

The law, which was part of the Highway Bill passed earlier this year by Congress, gave states the authority to enforce a federal law against movers who take possession of customer’s goods, then jack up their rates, holding the goods hostage until the higher rates are paid.

But a new provision in the transportation appropriations bill, approved by Congress the week of Nov. 13, requires states to get federal permission to enforce the law on a case-by-case basis. In addition, it requires charges to be filed in a federal court rather than a state court and grants federal authority to take over the investigation, even if a state objects.

As if all of that weren’t enough, the amendment – which was written by Sen. Kit Bond, R-MO, excludes certain so-called “pod” moving companies from the regulations. These are companies that move shipping containers – which double as storage containers – to storage areas so they can be delivered to their new locations at a later date.

The move by the Republican senator to include this amendment sparked outrage among some committee members.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-MS, said in a statement that the amendment does nothing to help consumers who have been defrauded.

“I think we should call these provisions the ‘Leave the Victims of Unscrupulous Moving Companies Behind Act,’ ” he said. “Unfortunately, this conference report allows unscrupulous movers to continue to defraud consumers with little practical resource for our constituents that have been mistreated.”

Some charged that Bond was championing the move because his state is home to several large moving companies – including Mayflower and United Van Lines.

“This new language was forced into the conference report in order to protect a few big moving companies from increased public accountability,” said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-AR.