Press Release

Antitrust Reform One Step Closer as COMPETE Act Advances Through the Senate Judiciary Committee

07. 01. 2026

SACRAMENTO – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the COMPETE Act (AB 1776), authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. The legislation updates California’s 119-year-old antitrust statute to stop monopoly abuse and close the loopholes that let dominant corporations rig the market against small businesses, workers, and families, and gives California real tools to hold them accountable.

Loyal Terry, Legislative Advocate for Economic Security California Action, issued the following statement:

“Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the COMPETE Act.  At every stop along the way, the opposition has spread fear about a bill they won’t describe honestly, and poured resources into killing it. And at every stop, lawmakers have looked at what the bill actually does and voted yes anyway, because they know that one of the first steps to address the affordability crisis is to stop the abuse by monopolies that makes it worse. 

Here’s why the measure keeps passing: the COMPETE Act simply applies the same rules of fairness to everyone. It tells the most dominant corporations they can’t abuse their market power to crush smaller competitors, suppress wages, and drive up prices for Californians. Despite opposition’s protestations, it does not punish companies for being big or successful; rather, it holds them accountable when they break the rules to stay on top. That’s good for the scrappy garage startup, the mom-and-pop bakery, and every business that hasn’t amassed enough power to rig the game in its own favor.

Reining in corporations that abuse their monopoly power is also exactly what Californians are demanding right now. They’re staring at high grocery receipts, rent checks, and medical bills and looking for leaders willing to take on the concentrated corporate power that keeps making life more expensive. The corporate lobby will only fight harder from here. We’re ready, because the case for this bill gets stronger every time it’s told.

We thank Assembly Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry for her fierce and stalwart leadership, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who put California families ahead of corporate lobbyists today, and our incredible coalition partners standing with us at every step. We urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to send COMPETE to Governor Newsom’s desk.”