The Main Street Competes Act seeks to promote competitive markets and protect small businesses through the enforcement of Federal antitrust laws. This includes deterring and remedying anticompetitive conduct, such as illegal mergers, that harms small businesses and their growth. The act requires specified entities, such as the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, to submit reports on their enforcement of antitrust laws and their impact on small businesses. The reports will be analyzed and used to make recommendations for administrative and legislative actions that promote competition and deter anticompetitive conduct.
Main Street Competes Act
This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to separately report biennially to the Small Business Administration (SBA) on how such agency's enforcement of federal antitrust law has promoted competition and deterred anticompetitive conduct that harms small businesses. The reports must include the number of antitrust inquiries, investigations, and enforcement actions conducted by the agencies.
Further, the SBA must report to Congress a summary of the DOJ and FTC reports that includes, as appropriate, recommendations for administration actions that may promote competition and deter anticompetitive conduct.
The bill replaces a requirement that the President report annually to Congress about the role of small businesses in the economy on an industry-by-industry basis.