California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) is proposing a 100-fold increase in the fines that can be levied under an antitrust law that’s more than a century old.
Bonta and Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D) on Monday announced legislation to update the 1907 law, known as the Cartwright Act, with the goal of deterring anticompetitive practices such as price-fixing.
“Too many wealthy corporations see penalties for breaking the law as simply the cost of doing business,” Bonta said in a statement announcing the legislation. “As the fifth largest economy in the world, and home to some of the wealthiest corporations, California has a responsibility to fight for a fair and competitive marketplace, especially amid the unprecedented wave of corporate mergers and market consolidation that we are seeing today.”
The rise of trillion-dollar companies and concerns about concentrated corporate power have fueled an antitrust backlash in states. Attorneys general have sued to break up companies and lawmakers have considered legislation to update “robber baron” laws passed in the early 1900s. Colorado and Washington recently revised their laws.
Read more: Lawmakers, AGs take aggressive antitrust stance
The maximum penalty per violation under California’s Cartwright Act is $1 million. Bonta and Hurtado’s bill would boost that to $100 million. It would also increase fines and jail time for individuals who violate the law. And it would allow courts to impose additional civil penalties based on the seriousness or persistence of the violations.
The sponsors say their goal is to combat corporate practices that reduce competition, restrain trade or manipulate prices.
“This is about power — the power of corporations, market manipulators, and bad actors who rig prices, suppress wages, and tilt the playing field in their favor,” Hurtado said in a statement. “[This bill] ensures that violating antitrust laws comes with real consequences, not just a slap on the wrist.”
As attorney general, Bonta has expanded his office’s antitrust division, filed lawsuits against Amazon and RealPage, and secured a $50 million settlement in a gasoline price manipulation case. He also participated in a multistate lawsuit that blocked the Albertsons-Kroger grocery store merger.
In 2022, California lawmakers instructed the state’s Law Revision Commission to study ways to update antitrust laws, including whether California should have specific antitrust laws for tech companies.
The California Chamber of Commerce has called the effort unnecessary.
“There has been no showing that Californians are suffering from higher prices, inferior products or services, or less competition under the current California antitrust regime,” CalChamber wrote last year.