Shaping Markets

The COMPETE Act: Fighting Corporate Monopolies Across California’s Economy

04. 03. 2026

AB 1776 would give California its first clear statutory prohibition on abusive monopoly conduct, protecting consumers, workers, & small businesses.

Across every sector of California’s economy — from the apps on your phone to the food on your table — a shrinking number of corporations control what people pay, what workers earn, and who gets to compete. The COMPETE Act (AB 1776) would change that by establishing California’s first explicit prohibition on anticompetitive conduct by dominant firms, closing loopholes that have allowed monopolies to raise prices, suppress wages, and lock out competitors with impunity.

Big Tech

Big Tech

A handful of tech giants have turned California’s digital marketplace into a system of tolls and gatekeeping. Google controls nearly 90% of the search market. Amazon claims at least 45 cents of every dollar earned by the small businesses selling on its platform. Apple and Google charge app developers up to 30% of their revenue just to reach customers — six to ten times what credit card companies charge merchants to process a payment. The COMPETE Act would hold these platforms accountable for using their gatekeeper power to crush small businesses, extract excessive fees, and raise prices for consumers.

Health & Pharma

Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals

A handful of corporate giants now dominate every link of California’s healthcare chain, controlling how much patients pay for care and what healthcare workers earn. The top three pharmacy benefit managers — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx — control 79% of all prescription claims in the U.S., steering patients toward affiliated pharmacies while squeezing independent competitors. Hospital mergers have driven price increases of at least 20%, and nurse wages have fallen in concentrated markets even as hospital systems report record profits. The COMPETE Act would hold dominant hospital systems, insurers, and PBMs accountable for overcharging patients, suppressing worker wages, and crushing independent pharmacies.

Food & Agriculture

Food & Agriculture

A handful of food and agriculture corporate giants dominate every link of California’s food supply chain, controlling what families eat and what they pay. Four meatpacking companies control 80% of the beef industry; across most grocery categories, four or fewer firms hold at least 50% of the market. Farmers and ranchers are left with fewer and fewer buyers — in 1980, ranchers received 62 cents of every beef dollar, compared to just 37 cents today. Meanwhile, dominant grocery chains use predatory tactics to eliminate neighborhood stores, deepening food deserts across the state. The COMPETE Act would hold dominant grocery chains, meatpackers, and food distributors accountable for crushing competitors, squeezing farmers, and raising prices on families.

Entertainment

Entertainment

A handful of media conglomerates now shape the content Californians consume and how much they pay for it. Four dominant streamers — Amazon, Netflix, Disney, and Max — control 79% of the TV streaming market. Since 2019, major streamers have raised prices by as much as 172%, while vertically integrated studios use their control over production, distribution, and audience access to promote their own content and shut out independent creators. The result is fewer jobs, lower pay, and less diverse content — undermining the competitive industry that once made California’s entertainment sector a broad-based economic engine. The COMPETE Act would hold dominant studios, streamers, and distributors accountable for using exclusionary practices to lock out rivals, suppress wages, and raise prices.