The legislation would prevent antitrust lawsuits filed by multiple state attorneys general (state AGs) from being consolidated or transferred to a separate venue at the request of a company.[3] Proponents of the bill argue that the current law helps companies accused of anti-competitive conduct by allowing suits to be consolidated or transferred in a more favorable venue at their request.[4]
On June 14, 2022, the Senate passed the legislation by voice vote.[5]
In June 2021, a bipartisan coalition of 52 state AGs wrote a letter to Congress in support of the legislation.[6]Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urged members of the Senate to support the legislation in February 2022.[7] Buck, who introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives, argued that states "should have the same benefit that is already afforded to federal antitrust enforcers — to select and remain in their preferred venue".[8]
Provisions
The legislation would allow antitrust lawsuits filed by state attorneys general to remain in their original court district, rather than be transferred or consolidated elsewhere. With the exception of suits filed by a federal agencies, antitrust lawsuits filed in multiple federal court districts can be consolidated in a single venue at a litigant's request.[9][10]
If passed, the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021 would create a carve-out for state AGs from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) akin to the relevant exemption for federal agencies.[11]
Voting history
In June 2021, the House Judiciary Committee in favor of advancing H.R. 3460 to the House floor by a 34–7 margin.[12] On September 23, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the legislation to a full vote in the Senate by voice vote.[13]
On June 14, 2022, the Senate passed the legislation unanimously.[5] Buck, who introduced the House version of the bill, praised the Senate's vote, describing it marking "the beginning of a new era of antitrust reform and proof-of-concept for a bipartisan reform coalition of conservatives and progressives".[14]
^Cole, Christopher (February 15, 2022). "FTC's Khan Urges Senate To Pass State Antitrust Venue Bill - Law360". Law360. Retrieved 2022-03-01. The Senate should move forward a pending bipartisan bill to allow state antitrust enforcers to bring lawsuits in their own backyards without seeing them folded into multidistrict litigation in another state, Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has told key senators. Khan, a vocal critic of tech sector consolidation who has advocated for tougher antitrust enforcement at the federal and state levels, wrote to leaders of both parties on the Judiciary Committee to urge passage of the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act.
^Cole, Christopher (October 8, 2021). "Antitrust Venue Law Would Embolden State-Level Enforcers - Law360". Law360. Retrieved 2022-03-01. Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Judiciary's antitrust panel, and Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, the lead sponsor on the House side, started pushing harder to move the bill when Google's case came up before the JPML. Known as the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act, the bill would add a few words and drop a subsection in the multidistrict litigation statute that allows consolidation of suits so that states get the same exemption as federal enforcers from the panel's authority to move cases.
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