[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9138 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9138

To amend the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 to examine how 
the competitiveness of small businesses is affected by the enforcement 
           of Federal antitrust laws, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 4, 2022

Ms. Newman (for herself and Ms. Tenney) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 to examine how 
the competitiveness of small businesses is affected by the enforcement 
           of Federal antitrust laws, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Main Street Competes Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION OF SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC POLICY.

    Section 302(a) of the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 
(15 U.S.C. 631a(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and provide'' and inserting ``provide''; 
        and
            (2) by striking the period and inserting ``; and promote 
        competitive markets, consumer choice, and business ownership 
        through enforcement of Federal antitrust laws in the case of 
        anticompetitive conduct that harms small businesses and the 
        growth of small businesses.''.

SEC. 3. STATE OF SMALL BUSINESSES.

    Section 303(a) of the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 
(15 U.S.C. 631b(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``not later than January 20 of each year'';
            (2) by striking ``The President'' and inserting ``Not later 
        than January 20, 2023, and not later than January 20 of each 
        year thereafter, the President'';
            (3) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) present current and historical data on--
                    ``(A) production, employment, investment, 
                population, job creation and retention, annual business 
                failures, annual business startups, and other economic 
                variables for small business in the economy as a whole 
                and for small business in each sector of the economy, 
                with, to the extent practicable, specific statistics 
                divided as to urban, suburban, and rural areas; and
                    ``(B) the proportion small businesses comprise of 
                each sector of the economy;'';
            (4) by striking paragraph (2);
            (5) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs 
        (2) and (3), respectively;
            (6) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``and'' at the end;
            (7) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (8) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 
        the following new paragraphs:
            ``(4) examine--
                    ``(A) how the enforcement of Federal antitrust laws 
                and the regulations and guidelines promulgated under 
                such laws affects the competitiveness of small 
                businesses;
                    ``(B) problems attributable to the enforcement, or 
                lack of enforcement, of Federal antitrust laws; and
                    ``(C) the extent to which the Federal antitrust 
                laws deter anticompetitive conduct that harms small 
                businesses including predatory pricing, anticompetitive 
                vertical and horizontal mergers, price discrimination, 
                and exclusionary conduct;
            ``(5) recommend legislative and administrative solutions to 
        problems identified under paragraph (4); and''.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 303 of the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 (15 
U.S.C. 631b) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsections:
    ``(f) Not later than 180 days after the end of fiscal year 2023 and 
each fiscal year thereafter, the head of each specified entity shall 
provide a report to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration on how enforcement by the specified entity of Federal 
antitrust laws promoted competition during the fiscal year preceding 
the report by deterring and remedying anticompetitive conduct that 
threatens small businesses, including--
            ``(1) an analysis of how enforcement by the specified 
        entity of Federal antitrust laws promoted competition during 
        the preceding fiscal year by deterring and remedying 
        anticompetitive conduct that threatens small businesses;
            ``(2) the number of complaints of alleged antitrust 
        violations filed by small businesses with the specified entity 
        during the preceding fiscal year disaggregated by category of 
        the alleged antitrust violation, including type of offense and 
        the specific Federal antitrust laws allegedly violated;
            ``(3) the number of inquiries, investigations, and 
        enforcement actions undertaken by the specified entity in 
        response to complaints filed by small businesses with the 
        specified entity during the preceding fiscal year; and
            ``(4) the number of inquiries, investigations, and 
        enforcement actions undertaken by the specified entity during 
        the preceding fiscal year pursuant to an alleged antitrust 
        violation, opened for a reason other than described in 
        paragraph (3), to deter and remedy anticompetitive conduct that 
        threatens small businesses.
    ``(g) Not later than 60 days after receiving a report under 
subsection (f) from the head of each specified entity with respect to a 
fiscal year, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration shall--
            ``(1) based on each such report with respect to such fiscal 
        year, analyze the extent to which each specified entity 
        promoted competition by deterring and remedying anticompetitive 
        conduct described in subsection (f)(1) during such fiscal year; 
        and
            ``(2) submit to the Administrator of the Small Business 
        Administration--
                    ``(A) each such report with respect to such fiscal 
                year; and
                    ``(B) a report on the findings of the analysis 
                conducted under paragraph (1) based on the reports 
                submitted under subsection (f) for such fiscal year.
    ``(h) Not later than 30 days after receiving each report required 
under subsection (g) with respect to a fiscal year, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration shall submit to the President and 
Congress, and make available on the public website of the Small 
Business Administration, such reports.''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    The Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-302; 
94 Stat. 848; 15 U.S.C. 631a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new sections:

``SEC. 304. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this title:
            ``(1) Antitrust violation.--The term `antitrust violation' 
        means any violation of Federal antitrust laws.
            ``(2) Federal antitrust laws.--The term `Federal antitrust 
        laws' has the meaning given the term `antitrust laws' in 
        subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 
        U.S.C. 12(a)), except that such term shall also include section 
        5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the 
        extent that such section 5 applies to unfair methods of 
        competition.
            ``(3) Specified entity.--The term `specified entity' 
        means--
                    ``(A) the Department of Justice; and
                    ``(B) the Federal Trade Commission.

``SEC. 305. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    ``Section 3003(a)(1) of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset 
Act of 1995 (31 U.S.C. 1113 note) does not apply with respect to 
section 303 of this Act.''.

SEC. 6. PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE OF ADVOCACY.

    Section 202 of the Act entitled ``To amend the Small Business Act 
and Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to provide additional 
assistance under such Acts, to create a pollution control financing 
program for small businesses, and for other purposes'' (Public Law 94-
305; 15 U.S.C. 634b) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(13) evaluate the efforts of the Antitrust Division of 
        the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to 
        protect small businesses from conduct that impairs 
        competition.''.
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