States gain power to sue for price discrimination on behalf of small businesses
H.R. 6830 — Fair Competition for Small Business Act of 2025 · Filed by Maxine Waters (D-CA) · 21 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Clayton Act to allow state attorneys general to sue for damages on behalf of their citizens (parens patriae) when businesses engage in price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act. Currently, only private parties injured by price discrimination can sue; this bill extends that right to state officials acting in the public interest, giving states a new enforcement tool against anticompetitive pricing practices that harm small businesses and consumers.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to expand state enforcement authority under existing antitrust law (Robinson-Patman Act) by adding a new class of plaintiffs (state AGs acting parens patriae) and a new damages remedy. This is a straightforward antitrust enforcement tool, not a deregulation, subsidy, or carve-out.
What the text implies
- State AGs may face resource constraints in pursuing price-discrimination cases, potentially limiting practical enforcement despite new legal authority.
- The bill does not specify damages caps, standards of proof, or defenses, leaving those to existing Robinson-Patman Act jurisprudence, which is complex and has historically been narrowly construed by courts.
- Expansion of parens patriae standing may increase litigation risk for businesses engaged in volume-based pricing or tiered discount structures, even if lawful.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands enforcement authority against price discrimination, a practice that harms small businesses and consumers by allowing larger competitors to obtain better pricing. State attorneys general, acting as parens patriae, can now bring damages actions on behalf of injured parties, creating an additional deterrent and remedy mechanism without restricting any citizen rights or protections.
Named in the bill
State attorneys general, Clayton Act, Robinson-Patman Act, Sherman Act, Small businesses, Consumers
Where it stands
21 cosponsors: 21 Democrats.
- Dec 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Dec 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (229 characters) on Sep 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“States gain power to sue for price discrimination on behalf of small businesses” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr6830 Report an error
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