Title: Economic Freedom and Financial Security for Working People Act of 2018
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Economic Freedom and Financial Security for Working People Act of 2018
This bill amends the Clayton Act to establish that a corporate acquisition that tends to create a monopsony (i.e., a situation where a single buyer substantially controls the purchasing power in a market for a good or service) is a violation of antitrust law. Currently, the Clayton Act prohibits only acquisitions that would lead to a monopoly (i.e., where a single supplier of a good or service substantially controls the market).

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5630 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5630

 To amend the Clayton Act to clarify that an acquisition that tends to 
              create a monopsony violates the Clayton Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2018

 Mr. Cicilline (for himself, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Ellison, and Mr. Crowley) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the 
 Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Clayton Act to clarify that an acquisition that tends to 
              create a monopsony violates the Clayton Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Economic Freedom and Financial 
Security for Working People Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Competition is a critical for promoting innovation and 
        entrepreneurship, creating economic opportunity and spurring 
        growth, promoting an equitable distribution of wealth, and 
        ensuring choice for consumers and workers.
            (2) Growing concerns over declining competition are driven 
        by evidence of higher levels of concentration, slower rates of 
        market entry, and widening inequality gaps. Evidence also shows 
        a decline in business dynamism, which reduces the mobility of 
        workers.
            (3) In competitive labor markets, employers compete hard to 
        provide better wages, benefits, and conditions for workers. In 
        the absence of competition, employers in concentrated labor 
        markets have monopsony power. If exercised, monopsony power 
        allows employers to dictate wages and other critical factors to 
        the detriment of workers. Employers with market power may also 
        use anticompetitive contracts to restrict the opportunity and 
        mobility of workers.
            (4) Much like monopoly power, the exercise of monopsony 
        power can harm workers, consumers, innovation, and economic 
        growth.
            (5) The antitrust laws are an important tool for promoting 
        competition in all markets, including markets for consumer 
        goods and services, and for inputs, including labor.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to promote working 
Americans' economic opportunity by ensuring that they have the full 
benefit of competition by amending the Clayton Act to include the term 
``monopsony'' to clarify that an acquisition that tends to create a 
monopsony violates the Clayton Act.

SEC. 3. UNLAWFUL ACQUISITIONS THAT TEND TO CREATE A MONOPSONY.

    Section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18) is amended by inserting 
``or a monopsony'' after ``monopoly'' each place that term appears.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON MONOPSONY POWER IN LABOR MARKETS.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct and publish a 
study incorporating public comment on the economic and social effect of 
rising concentration in labor markets, including the impact of 
monopsony power on the wages and benefits, mobility, and income 
equality of workers, including employees and independent contractors.
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