Update
119 Years Later, California Is Finally Updating Its Antitrust Laws
03. 05. 2026
In industry after industry, a handful of powerful corporations control what you pay, where you shop, and what you earn. Four companies now control 85% of U.S. beef processing, driving up meat prices for consumers everywhere. Three pharmacy middlemen process nearly 80% of all prescriptions in the U.S., marking up costs for some life-saving HIV and cancer treatment drugs by hundreds and thousands of percent. Local grocery market concentration rose 94% between 1990 and 2019, leaving fewer options for families to put food on the table. When there’s no one left to compete with, dominant firms set whatever prices they want, and families are left to foot the bill by paying $5,000 more each year.
Broken markets are a central driver of the affordability crisis. Fixing them requires giving enforcers the right tools to act.
U.S. antitrust laws haven’t kept pace with the corporate consolidation we’re seeing across the economy. Federal antitrust enforcement has steadily weakened for decades. And when enforcers spend their limited time and resources bringing a case, judges may spend more time debating whether a company is really a monopoly than examining the real-world evidence of how that company harms consumers, workers, and small businesses by illegally distorting competition. Corporate giants have learned to exploit these requirements, hiding behind legal technicalities to shield themselves from accountability for their illegal behavior.
This is the problem our sister organization’s affiliate, Economic Security California Action (ESCAA), is working to address by co-sponsoring the COMPETE Act alongside a broad coalition of nonprofits, organized labor, and small business leaders. If passed, the landmark bill would update California’s century-old antitrust statute and give state enforcers the tools they need to take on abuses by corporate monopolies.
The bill codifies unanimous recommendations from the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) following years of expert review, more than a dozen public meetings, thousands of public comments, and a report outlining potential solutions to update antitrust statutes from ESCAA and partners. At its core, the COMPETE Act closes loopholes that have allowed monopolies to abuse their market dominance. It also gives California independence from federal regulators who are slow to act and removes legal barriers that have let corporations escape accountability.
If passed, California would be taking on corporate concentration head-on. Here’s what the real-world impact would be:
- For workers, this means gig workers can meaningfully challenge poverty wages if a corporate giant like Uber is rigging the market to keep wages low.
- For small businesses, it means an independent pharmacy can stand up to a corporate giant that is squeezing them out of the market.
- For consumers, it means California’s enforcers will face fewer hurdles when challenging the abuses that are driving up the cost of groceries, prescriptions, and everyday life.
Stronger antitrust enforcement is affordability policy. Restoring competition is essential to bringing down costs for families. In addition to ESCAA’s work in California, we’re seeing momentum build across the country. California has already passed algorithmic price-fixing reform and, like Colorado and Washington, has strengthened merger oversight.
The fight for antitrust enforcement is the fight for an economy that works for all.
The Fight for Affordability Continues
While ESCAA is taking on monopolies in California, Economic Security Illinois is focused on ending junk fees and putting more money back in families’ pockets.
Fixing Broken Markets, Fixing Broken Incomes: Our Two-Front Fight for Illinois Families
Illinois families lose an estimated $3,200 a year to hidden junk fees — often labeled “convenience” or “processing” fees that quietly inflate the final price of tickets, hotel stays, delivery orders, and more.
In his State of the State address, Governor Pritzker announced his plan to ban hidden junk fees to address the affordability crisis. But fixing broken markets only solves half the problem. The Governor also reinforced his commitment to continue investing in the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, proven tools that put money back in families’ pockets to cover essentials like rent, groceries, childcare, and transportation.
Cracking down on these deceptive junk fees addresses broken markets. Strengthening tax credits addresses broken incomes. Together, that’s how we build an Illinois economy that works for everyone. Learn more here.
ICYMI: Our Picks
From what a hit TV show gets right about our broken healthcare system to why Trump Accounts fall short — here’s what caught our attention this month:
- Why the biggest campaign buzzword tapped into a broader political hunger
A recent Washington Post piece examines why the term “affordability” has taken over political and economic discourse, citing ESP’s Affordability Framework as key to defining what’s driving the crisis. As ESP’s Mike Konczal explains, affordability “speaks to that security of life being a little further out of reach. It also helps pull together a lot of different things, from people’s access to healthcare to access to a home — all very different phenomena that have gotten more expensive. There’s a little less left over to enjoy things.” - Why is your Netflix bill going up?
Your Netflix bill is higher than it was in 2019. So is your Hulu bill. And your Max bill. And your Prime bill. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s the predictable result of what happens when an industry consolidates until real competition disappears. POP! Economy breaks it all down in a recent explainer.“When four companies control 79% of the market, they control prices, too.” - Why Trump Accounts fall short
After a Trump Account ad ran during the Super Bowl, I took to LinkedIn to share my thoughts on why this proposal falls short. My main concern is that Trump Accounts are another complex financial tool that serves as a handout to the wealthy, while making false promises to those who need it most. Families that can afford to contribute up to $5,000 tax free annually gain another tax-friendly avenue to build wealth. Meanwhile, families who can’t afford to contribute as much fall further behind. - Everything The Pitt gets right about the healthcare crisis
Each week, ESP’s Hannah Gregor recaps episodes of the hit medical drama The Pitt, highlighting what the show gets startlingly right about America’s broken healthcare system — from overcrowded ERs to the impossible choices patients face navigating a system that leaves too many people uninsured.“Ok, Joy giving the thesis of this show: If the system doesn’t work for you, you got to work the system.” - Congratulations, Aisha Nyandoro, Elevate Prize Foundation Winner!
ESP board member and Founder and CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, Aisha Nyandoro, was just named a 2026 Elevate Prize Foundation winner, joining an extraordinary cohort of leaders across the country doing the hard but necessary work to make a difference in their communities.