CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 45 attorneys general, today sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting the federal government provide the necessary funding to support state antitrust enforcement efforts.
“States are actively engaged in investigations and litigation aimed at protecting residents from Big Tech’s anticompetitive behavior. The partnerships between states and the federal government to safeguard the competitive process are critical and require significant resources,” Raoul said. “I encourage Congress to support our efforts by passing legislation that will ensure that states are able to continue to undertake robust enforcement action against companies seeking to stifle competition at our residents’ expense.”
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State attorneys general around the country are currently leading antitrust cases against powerful and sophisticated Big Tech firms. Late last year, Attorney General Raoul joined a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general in a lawsuit against Facebook for anticompetitive conduct, as well as a bipartisan coalition of 38 attorneys general in suing Google on antitrust grounds. Additionally, in 2019, Attorney General Raoul joined a coalition of attorneys general in filing an antitrust lawsuit to stop the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.
These are just some of the examples of the many types of enforcement actions states have and can bring to challenge anticompetitive conduct by major players with vast resources in a variety of industries. Often working closely with federal partners, states bring these enforcement actions in the public interest to protect consumers and the competitive process.
Raoul and the coalition note in their letter to the chairs and ranking members of the respective Senate and House committees that as the nation’s economy has grown, so too has the need to staff and finance a greater number of antitrust enforcement actions that are fundamentally more complex and resource-intensive than in the past. There is a growing bipartisan consensus that antitrust is at a turning point, and Congress currently is considering a number of measures that would enable more robust enforcement. Whether antitrust investigations and litigation are pursued together with federal partners or in multistate coalitions, they require massive commitments by lawyers and experts, as well as significant technological resources. Congress is already considering additional funding for the federal agencies, but funding for state agencies will enhance the states’ ability to fulfill their obligations as integral partners to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and as part of Congress’ plan for protecting competition.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in sending today’s letter are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.
