When Do Price Gouging Laws Expire?

States around the country have activated their price gouging statutes due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  These temporary restrictions typically go into effect upon the declaration of a local, state or national emergency.  However, even though all the emergency declaration began at roughly the same time (the first week of March 2020), they likely will end at very different times. States are taking much different approaches to their predicted end-dates for their price gouging restrictions.

Under the majority of state laws, Governors can declare a state of emergency only for a limited time period - typically 30, 60, or 90 days.  After that period, the Governors usually are required to renew the declaration.  Unless renewed, when the declaration expires, so do many of the price gouging restrictions.  In Louisiana, for example, "no state of disaster or emergency may continue for longer than thirty days unless renewed by the governor."  La. Stat. Ann. § 29:724.  Louisiana's