Recently, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), chair of the Senate Judiciary’s Antitrust Subcommittee, reintroduced the “Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform (CALERA) Act” to make it easier for the government to stop anticompetitive mergers and conduct. The bill increases funding for antitrust enforcement and improves upon many other ideas from previous legislation led by Sen. Klobuchar, including the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” – which Public Knowledge also supports. Public Knowledge commends Sen. Klobuchar for strengthening antitrust enforcement, a key component of opening up markets for competition and putting consumers in the driver’s seat when it comes to Big Tech.
The following can be attributed to Elise Phillips, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“Our nation’s antitrust enforcement agencies urgently need more resources to help level the playing field for enforcers to better protect consumers from anticompetitive abuses. This bill enables plaintiffs to get their day in court for anticompetitive harms, and ensures that merger filing fees are rightfully granted to both the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and to the Federal Trade Commission.
“The bill provides essential support for these agencies to continue their incredible work so that consumers, workers, and small businesses don’t suffer the costs of highly concentrated markets. We are thrilled to support this bill and look forward to working with Sen. Klobuchar on more proposals to strengthen enforcement, bolster competition, and improve market choices.”