Cartwright Act: restraint of trade.

Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan's antitrust legislation expands California's Cartwright Act by establishing new prohibitions on anticompetitive business practices and monopolistic behavior. The measure adds Section 16720.1 to the Business and Professions Code, making it unlawful for any person or entity to engage in activities that restrain trade or attempt to monopolize or monopsonize commerce.

The bill's provisions specifically target two categories of prohibited conduct. First, it bars actions that restrain trade or impede the free exercise of competition and production. Second, it prohibits attempts to create, maintain, or conspire to establish monopolies or monopsonies in any part of trade or commerce. The legislation defines restraint of trade to encompass all activities currently covered under existing law, while extending enforcement authority to address these violations regardless of whether they are conducted by individuals or multiple parties.

According to the bill's legislative findings, these expanded provisions aim to address growing market consolidation and protect competition in both consumer and labor markets. The measure maintains the Attorney General's existing authority to enforce antitrust violations while broadening the scope of activities subject to criminal penalties under the Cartwright Act. While the changes create new state-mandated enforcement requirements for local agencies, the bill explicitly exempts them from reimbursement obligations under California's constitution.