SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry is pushing back against a statewide advertising campaign by the California Chamber of Commerce opposing Assembly Bill 1776, saying the effort misrepresents legislation she says is intended to strengthen California’s antitrust laws and protect small businesses.
The Winters Democrat accused CalChamber of spending millions of dollars on what she described as a misinformation campaign built on outdated information and industry-funded economic projections.
“CalChamber is spending millions of dollars trying to convince Californians and my legislative colleagues that protecting fair competition will somehow hurt honest businesses,” Aguiar-Curry said. “The reality is exactly the opposite. AB 1776 is designed to protect the thousands of California businesses that play by the rules from the handful of dominant corporations that abuse their market power to squeeze out competitors.”
The legislation would address what Aguiar-Curry describes as a gap in California’s antitrust law. Her office said the state’s Cartwright Act allows legal action against two or more companies that restrict competition but does not clearly apply when similar conduct is carried out by a single dominant corporation. According to Aguiar-Curry, 45 other states and federal law already address that issue.
Aguiar-Curry also criticized CalChamber for opposing the bill after what she said were months of discussions with stakeholders.
“We’ve spent dozens of hours asking for their input in meeting after meeting on how to better protect innocent parties under the bill,” Aguiar-Curry said. “But instead of providing meaningful feedback, they’re making claims that simply don’t match the facts.”
Among the claims challenged by the assemblymember, she said small businesses would be exempt from the legislation and argued they stand to benefit from stronger protections against dominant corporations. She also disputed claims that the bill would eliminate consumer discounts or price-matching programs, saying those competitive practices would remain legal.
Aguiar-Curry also rejected an economic analysis cited by opponents that estimated the bill could cost California’s economy nearly $1 trillion. She said the projection was commissioned by opponents of the legislation and relied on assumptions that antitrust experts dispute.
She also said criticism from some academics was based on an earlier version of the bill and noted that revised legislation has received support from other legal scholars.
“The question is whether we’re going to stand up for the thousands of California businesses trying to compete fairly or are we going to continue protecting the handful of corporations that use their power to squash competition,” Aguiar-Curry said. “I know what side I’m on.”
AB 1776 remains under consideration in the California Legislature.