Klobuchar Introduces Comprehensive Bill for Modernizing Antitrust

“is the first step to overhauling and modernizing our laws so we can effectively promote competition.” The bill would create an FTC division to do market studies and merger retrospectives. Competition law violations would be subject to DOJ and FTC fines of up to 15% of a company’s annual revenue, instead of capped at $100 million. For certain types of deals, the bill “shifts the legal burden from the government to the merging companies, which would have to prove that their mergers do not create an appreciable risk of materially lessening competition or tend to create a monopoly or monopsony.” The bill has the support of Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. The plan would grant enforcers the “ability to issue civil fines against companies and eliminate the need to define the market a company is competing in when charging them with abusing market power,” said the Computer & Communications Industry Association. President Matt Schruers said CCIA shares Klobuchar’s “goal of ensuring that antitrust enforcers are adequately resourced to protect consumers.” Public Knowledge Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman called the bill a “turbocharge” for antitrust enforcement. Public Citizen said this “would severely limit harmful mega-mergers, attempt to strengthen the powers of the" FTC and DOJ "and expand important whistleblower protections.”