Healy intorduces consumer protection bill

For immediate release: Sept. 6, 2006                                                                         

Contact:  Rep. Wm. J. Healy II

Healy Introduces Consumer Protection Bill

Fuel quality important for consumers in an age of skyrocketing gas prices

State Representative William J. Healy, II (D-Canton) introduced a bill today that would give county auditors the authority to test fuel quality levels at local gas stations. The bill is intended to protect consumers from isolated cases of misconduct by station owners. 

“It is always important that consumers are getting what they pay for,” Healy said.  “But with the incredibly high cost of gasoline today, it is even more important that there is a system in place to reassure consumers that they are not being taken advantage of,” he continued. 

Ohio is now one of just four states where gasoline is not inspected for quality. Nearly six billion gallons of gasoline are sold each year in Ohio – virtually all of it untested at the local level.

Currently, county auditors – acting in their role as the sealer of weights and measures – test pumps to make sure they accurately dispense the correct amount of gasoline.

But auditors generally do not have the authority to test fuel quality. The only exception: Summit County, a home rule county where officials have launched their own program.

 Healy’s bill would allow other county auditors offices to go the extra mile by testing for octane, water content and sediment content. Water and sediment would be measured according to nationally-recognized guidelines; Ohio would set its own standards for testing octane in concert with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

County auditors have long sought the authority and said they were enthusiastic about Healy’s proposal.

Stark County Auditor Kim Perez, upon hearing of the bill, welcomed it as a much-needed addition to the arsenal of tools available to his office with which to protect consumers. 

“Gasoline stations will say that they monitor themselves, but the question remains-who watches out for the consumer?” Perez asked, noting that county auditors serve on the front lines because “if people have problems, they call us.”

County auditors would not be required to test gas stations under the proposed legislation, but would be empowered to act upon complaints and negligent station owners should any malfeasance be discovered. 

The bill has 20 cosponsors. They include: state representatives Kathleen Chandler, D-Kent; Sandra Stabile Harwood, D-Niles; Brian G. Williams, D-Akron; Jim Raussen, R-Springdale; Edna Brown, D-Toledo; Joe Koziura, D-Lorain; Sylvester Patton, D-Youngstown; L. George Distel, D-Conneaut; Linda Reidelbach, R-Columbus; Jeanine Perry, D-Toledo; Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood; Lorraine M. Fende, D-Willowick; Courtney Combs, R-Ross Township; Peter Ujvagi, D-Toledo; Tim Cassell, D-Madison; Mike Foley, D-Cleveland; Jon Peterson, R-Delaware; Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton; Kenny Yuko, D-Euclid; and W. Scott Oelslager, R-Canton.