Bipartisan legislation aimed at cracking down on flash mob robberies and complex retail theft schemes was reintroduced last week.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025, reintroduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), would establish a coordinated multi-agency response and create new tools to tackle evolving trends in organized retail theft.

“Retail crime has cost Iowa billions, and it’s even worse across the nation. Organized theft rings deploy innovative tactics to pilfer goods, and it’s causing financial harm to businesses, putting employees and consumers at risk and funding transnational criminal organizations throughout the world. It’s time for the law to catch up and prevent criminals from exploiting the internet and online marketplaces. Our bill improves the federal response to organized retail crime and establishes new tools to recover stolen goods and illicit proceeds, and deter future attacks on American retailers,” Grassley said.

“Large criminal organizations are constantly evolving their tactics to steal goods from retailers and the supply chain in communities across the Silver State,” said Cortez Masto. “The rise in organized retail crime has left businesses scrambling, and it is time for Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation to help law enforcement agencies keep our communities safe.”

More than 84 percent of retailers report that violence and aggression from criminal activities has become more of a concern since 2022, resulting in injuries and deaths among employees, customers, security officers and law enforcement personnel, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).

The federation also estimates that larceny incidents increased by 93 percent in 2023 compared to 2019.

Criminal organizations have increasingly turned to retail crime to generate illicit profits, using internet-based tools to organize flash mobs, sell stolen goods and move money.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would establish an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center within the Department of Homeland Security that combines expertise from state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as retail industry representatives.

The bill would also create new tools to assist in federal investigation and prosecution of organized retail crime, and help recapture lost goods and proceeds.

Additional cosponsors include Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act has garnered many endorsements, including from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the Reusable Packaging Association, the Association of American Railroads, the American Trucking Association, UPS, DHL, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the National Milk Producers Foundation, the Intermodal Association of North America, the Transportation Intermediaries Association, the PASS (Protect America’s Small Sellers) Coalition, the International Downtown Association, Amazon, the World Shipping Council, Pirate Ship, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), World Shipping Council and the Home Depot.

Grassley and Cortez Masto introduced similar legislation in 2022 and 2023.