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Pennsylvania State Senate
02/05/2025 11:58 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?SPick=20250&chamber=S&cosponId=44714
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2025 - 2026 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 3, 2025 04:36 PM
From: Senator Nick Pisciottano
To: All Senate members
Subject: Pennsylvania Open Markets Act
 
Last Session, I collaborated with Rep. Briggs and Rep. Solomon on House Bill 2012, which would create the Pennsylvania Open Markets Act.  We were able to pass the bill through the House with the support of stakeholders and a continued willingness to make improvements to the bill.  Our bill was supported by the Office of Attorney General, among others.  I intend to continue to work with Pennsylvania businesses to strengthen our marketplace and create a fair and healthy environment for them to thrive.  Open competition is the engine of our nation's economy, and we need to ensure that state law protects against companies that seek to restrain Pennsylvania commerce. 
 
For decades, large companies across the nation have purchased smaller ones, creating concentrated power in almost all sectors of our economy. Large, monopolistic firms then use their dominant market share to engage in price gouging, collusion, and other predatory, anti-competitive tactics that harm consumers, small businesses, and workers by raising prices, suppressing wages, and more. This monopolistic consolidation has also led to offshoring our nation's production capacity while creating brittle supply chains for even basic goods.
 
Unlike most other states, Pennsylvania does not have its own antitrust statute. As a result, I am introducing the Pennsylvania Open Markets Act that will protect consumers, local business owners, and workers by prohibiting anti-competitive behavior and keeping markets open and fair. In addition, this bill empowers the Attorney General to investigate companies that attempt to monopolize any part of our economy and increases penalties for antitrust violations. 
 
Please join me in supporting this legislation that drives a healthy, competitive, and innovative economy by providing new protections for consumers, small businesses, and workers throughout Pennsylvania.