Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro is calling for “quick passage” of a consumer protection bill that would prohibit prices for basic needs such as food, motor fuels and housing from being raised “substantially” during a national or state emergency.

However, the Senate bill has yet to receive a hearing in the Senate Judiciary-Civil Justice Committee.

Sponsored by Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, SB181 would still need to gain favor from lawmakers in the Senate and House before heading to Gov. Bob Taft for his signature.

The bill specifies that if the prices for certain goods increase “substantially” over the average prices for those goods in the prior 30 days, and the increases are not the result of greater costs to suppliers, the Ohio attorney general could charge retailers with “price gouging.”

The requirement would only last until 30 days after the expiration of the emergency declaration.

Padgett offered the measure in the aftermath of complaints statewide about the high cost of gasoline and diesel fuel after Hurricane Katrina.

“This legislation strengthens the ability of the state to go after unscrupulous businesses who use a crisis to reap unfair profits,” Petro said in a written statement. “It will help ensure that prices for basic commodities are not determined by panic or greed.”

More than 20 states already have some type of price gouging ban.

Florida and Tennessee have filed lawsuits alleging price gouging since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and are seeing lower pump prices as a result, The Associated Press reported.