Gas credit-price bill gains in Albany

The state Senate's consumer protection committee has approved a bill that would force gas stations to display their credit prices on large curbside signs if they're significantly higher than cash prices.

The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), still must be approved by the full Senate and the Assembly and be signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo before it can become law. Zeldin, chairman of the consumer committee, said in an announcement Monday that he's been in touch with the Assembly and hopes to get the bill passed before the legislative session ends in late June.

Zeldin's bill, which passed the committee by a 9-0 vote Monday, would require curbside display of credit prices if they are more than 7 percent higher than cash prices.

Assemb. Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat who chairs the Assembly's consumer committee, said in an interview last week he planned to introduce legislation requiring stations to post both cash and credit prices on curbside signs if there is any difference at all between them. Both he and Zeldin said they believe the differences in their bills can be worked out.

The bills result from consumer complaints about some stations charging $1 or $2 per gallon more for credit card purchases. "This legislation is important as we are coming into the summer travel months and will help end the misleading practices that some bad actors are using to lure consumers into their stations from the street using deceptive pricing schemes," Zeldin said in a statement.

Violators would be fined up to $1,000 and their stations possibly shut down for 10 days if his bill becomes law.

The Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers Association will oppose both bills as unnecessary in view of the relatively few stations involved, said association executive director Ralph Bombardiere. He noted also that some stations cannot install curbside signs because of local ordinances.

Kevin Beyer, president of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, says he supports Zeldin's bill but thinks Dinowitz's is impractical because it would require a confusingly large amount of information on curbside signs -- two prices for each of at least three grades of fuel -- and mandate small numerals because of municipal restrictions on the sizes of signs.