Representative Maxine Waters ... introduced the Fair Competition for Small Business Act of 2025 ... The Fair Competition for Small Business Act protects small businesses and addresses this legal gap by amending the Clayton Act to explicitly authorize state attorneys general to bring civil actions for damages when violating the Robinson-Patman Act, strengthening accountability and deterring anti-competitive practices. ... “The Fair Competition for Small Business Act would permit state attorneys general to seek monetary damages on behalf of their constituents for these discriminatory practices and give them a vital tool to promote marketplace competition, fairness, and affordability.”
Advance the Fair Competition for Small Business Act to let state attorneys general seek monetary damages for Robinson-Patman Act violations and strengthen enforcement against discriminatory pricing.
Occurrences
Evidence
The FTC sued Southern Glazer's under the Robinson-Patman Act, alleging it denied smaller stores discounts and rebates available to larger chains and sought to stop the price discrimination.
The Republican-controlled FTC voted to dismiss its PepsiCo Robinson-Patman case, reversing a prior price-discrimination enforcement push.
A May 2026 report says the FTC is still in a legal battle over Southern Glazer's, but current leadership is skeptical and the agency has not found concrete evidence after years of investigation.
Assessments
The promised legislative change was not delivered: there is no clear evidence that the Fair Competition for Small Business Act became law or that state attorneys general gained the promised new damages authority for Robinson-Patman violations. Related FTC enforcement actions moved in the same policy direction, but they were not the bill itself, one major case was later dismissed, and the remaining litigation was still unresolved. That supports credit for a serious attempt and aligned advocacy, but not for completed delivery of the promised outcome.