Bill > SF2025

This bill establishes the Fair Competition Act to enhance consumer protection by addressing anti-competitive business practices in Minnesota. The legislation introduces new definitions for monopoly and monopsony power, expanding legal protections against market manipulation. Key provisions include prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of monopoly or monopsony power that affects competition or controls prices, with a specific emphasis that pro-competitive effects cannot be used as a defense against such actions. The bill creates new legal standards for price fixing, market allocation, and collusive practices, broadening the scope of existing antitrust regulations. It also establishes more stringent penalties for violations, with civil penalties tiered according to a corporation's annual revenue (ranging from $100,000 to $5,000,000 per violation) and potential criminal penalties including fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to seven years. Additionally, the bill introduces two significant new consumer protections: a prohibition on unconscionably excessive prices (defined as prices more than 10% higher than recent market rates) and a ban on price discrimination that could potentially lessen competition or create monopolistic conditions. The legislation empowers the attorney general to investigate and enforce these new standards, with specific mechanisms for addressing unfair market practices across various industries.

Business and Industry

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF2025&ssn=0&y=2025