Gallego, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Small Businesses from Corporate Gouging, Lower Prices for American Families

WASHINGTON – Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA),andPeter Welch (D-VT)introduced theFair Prices for Local Businesses Actto bring down prices for American families and support small businesses by cracking down on corporate price discrimination.
“When suppliers can charge small businesses more than big corporations for the exact same products, local shops shut down, a handful of companies run the market, and families end up paying more at the checkout line,”said Senator Gallego.“This bill gives regulators the tools they need to hold big retailers accountable and make sure local businesses have a fair shot to compete. By leveling the playing field, we can bring prices down for American families.”
Small businesses nationwide – from small town grocers to big city restaurants – are forced by mega-corporations to pay higher prices for identical products and pass those higher prices on to customers. Existing laws are supposed to stop big corporations from using their size to force suppliers into charging smaller businesses more, so they can undercut those competitors and clear the market for themselves. But over the last four decades, the Executive Branch and the courts have mostly looked the other way and refused to enforce these laws. Communities paid the price as huge corporations used price discrimination to crush small businesses, with more than 100,000 small retailers shutting their doors in the last few decades, hollowing out local economies and creating food deserts in poor and rural areas.
Under the leadership of Lina Khan, the FTC exposed how the world’s biggest corporations illegally conspire to drive up costs on mom-and-pop businesses. In one case, the FTC uncovered how Pepsi and Walmart allegedly colluded to drive up the price of Pepsi products at grocery stores that compete with Walmart. These mega-corporations still benefit from a wide range of legal loopholes that stall enforcement and disincentivize small businesses from fighting back. TheFair Prices for Local Businesses Actwould strengthen and modernize our price discrimination laws to level the playing field for small businesses and ensure mega-corporations can be held accountable.
“For decades, corporations have been allowed to break the law and rig the system to make small businesses pay higher prices for the exact same products,”said Senator Murphy.“Their goal was to crush the competition so they could hoard even more profit and power, even if that meant decimating local economies and raising prices on families. Small businesses are the lifeblood of a community and they should be able to compete with these soulless mega-corporations on equal footing. This bill would end the disastrous, price rigging lawlessness by providing both small businesses and federal regulators with a larger set of legal tools to punish corporations that run these schemes.“
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, yet for far too long they’ve been forced to compete with massive corporations who use their power to squeeze out local competitors. The Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act will ensure accountability by giving local retailers a chance, strengthening competition, and ultimately delivering better prices for consumers. I’m proud to support this legislation to level the playing field for our local businesses,”said Senator Blumenthal.
“High costs are crushing working families and small businesses,”said Senator Fetterman.“The Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act would level the playing field and make sure small businesses can buy products on the same terms as big corporations.”
“Vermont’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but they can’t compete when they’re forced to pay more than big retailers for the same goods and services. That kind of price discrimination squeezes local businesses and raises costs for consumers,”said Senator Welch.“The Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act helps level the playing field and holds bad actors accountable.”
TheFair Prices for Local Businesses Actwould:
TheFair Prices for Local Businesses Actis endorsed by the Open Markets Institute, Small Business Majority, Farm Action Fund, American Booksellers Association, Independent Restaurant Coalition, American Economic Liberties Project, Antimonopoly and Finance, National Supermarket Association, Main Street Competition Coalition, and RAFI.
Read the full legislationHERE.