Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) introduced the Consumer Advocacy and Protection (CAP) Act (H.R.7096/ S.3667) to eliminate the civil penalty maximum the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) may currently impose.  

The bill would amend the Consumer Products Safety Act (CPSA) to increase the maximum civil penalty for a single CPSA violation from $100,000 to $250,000 and remove the $17,150,000 inflation-adjusted maximum cap for a series of violations. In addition, this legislation would allow the CPSC to adjust the $250,000 per violation civil penalty for inflation each year, rather than every five years as allowed under the current CPSA.  

Recently, the CPSC has imposed large civil penalties in a number of cases. This bill would authorize the CPSC to issue even larger penalties.