39
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO DIRECT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO
    VIGOROUSLY PURSUE CIVIL PROSECUTION OF THE GASOLINE
    OVERCHARGE CASE, AND TO EXPRESS HOUSE MEMBERS' SUPPORT FOR
    THIS EFFORT.
 


 1        WHEREAS, gasoline prices in Hawaii continue to be
 2   extraordinarily high as compared to the United States mainland;
 3   and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has recently investigated
 6   this issue and found no economic justification for this
 7   discrepancy; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has further found that
10   certain incumbent oil companies are earning supracompetitive
11   profits in Hawaii's gasoline market at the expense of consumers
12   in this state; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has found substantial and
15   credible evidence that these supracompetitive prices and
16   profits are the result of agreements among these certain
17   incumbent oil companies to fix market shares and prices, all in
18   violation of state and federal law; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has found that gasoline
21   consumers in this state have paid hundreds of millions of
22   dollars more for gasoline than they would have paid in a
23   competitive market; and
24   
25        WHEREAS, gasoline is an essential commodity and consumers
26   in this state deserve to be treated fairly; and
27   
28        WHEREAS, the high cost of gasoline in this state affects
29   all segments of Hawaii's economy, and has contributed toward
30   this state's economic recession; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, the Attorney General has found that these
33   supracompetitive gasoline profits are removed from Hawaii,
34   resulting in serious economic harm to the state as a whole; and
35   
36        WHEREAS, the Attorney General is a proper advocate for
37   gasoline consumers in the State of Hawaii, who otherwise would

 
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 1   have little or no recourse; and
 2   
 3        WHEREAS, having found sufficient evidence of violations of
 4   state and federal antitrust laws, the Attorney General has
 5   filed suit in federal district court on behalf of the natural
 6   citizens of Hawaii, and the House supports this action; now
 7   wherefore,
 8   
 9        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
10   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
11   of 1999, that the Attorney General is requested to vigorously
12   pursue civil prosecution of the gasoline overcharge case on
13   behalf of all the consumers in the state, and to expedite
14   discovery of evidence, and seek a trial date within the next
15   two years; and
16   
17        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is
18   requested to make reports on the progress of the litigation
19   from time to time, with appropriate safeguards of litigation-
20   sensitive information, in a manner suitable to the Attorney
21   General and House leadership; and
22   
23        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this
24   Resolution be transmitted to the House of Representatives, to
25   the Attorney General and to the Federal Trade Commission.
26 
27 
28 
29                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________

 
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