The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill Monday that would make it illegal to return groceries purchased to hoard food and supplies for the coronavirus outbreak with fines of up to $20,000.

The proposed legislation, introduced by state Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego, D-Burlington, targets food and most of the other items that New Jersey residents have been panic-buying within 30 days of the state of emergency declared March 9.

The Assembly passed the bill on a 49-4-12 vote. The bill is scheduled for a vote by the state Senate on Thursday.

The bill (A3865) was crafted based on CDC guidance that suggests that the virus “may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces” and that a person can get COVID-19 by “touching a surface or object that has the virus on it” and then touching their face.

“Following a quarantine or period of isolation, a consumer may attempt to return unused items purchased in bulk, which may contribute to the spread of COVID-19 if the items being returned are contaminated with the virus," according to the proposed bill.

The ban would include dairy products, meat and produce, most drinks, toilet paper, household cleaning items and even health and beauty products.

The first offense would result in a maximum fine of $10,000 and the second a maximum fine of $20,000, according to the bill.

The CDC has said there is no evidence that the virus is spread through food and that there is a very low risk of spread from food products that are shipped over days or weeks at regular and frozen temperatures.

The bill comes amid reports of rampant price gouging across New Jersey on many of the products that have grown scarce since the pandemic hit the state. Many stores were marking up items like hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays and wipes as the shelves emptied.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that the state was issuing 13 subpoenas and sending more than 80 warning letters to businesses suspected of illegally raising prices. Sellers are not allowed to raise their prices more than 10% during an emergency, and face fines up to $10,000 the first time they do.

As of Tuesday, the Division of Consumer Affair has received 619 complaints of price gouging.

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Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

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