SB 36 (Umberg D) Price gouging: state of emergency.

Bill Watchlist,

SB 36

(Umberg D)   Price gouging: state of emergency.

Position: Watch

Introduced: 12/3/2024

Last Amend: 9/5/2025

Status: 10/11/2025-Vetoed by Governor. Consideration of Governor's veto pending.

Location: 10/11/2025-S. VETOED

Summary: Existing law, the Unfair Competition Law, makes various practices unlawful and provides that a person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in unfair competition is liable for a civil penalty, as specified. This bill would additionally make a person who violates those provisions, if the act or acts of unfair competition are perpetrated against one or more persons displaced due to a state of emergency or local emergency, as defined, at the time the violation occurred, liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.