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California Antitrust Bill Narrowed After Business Pushback

By  |  August 30, 2026
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California lawmakers have pared back a proposal that would expand the state’s antitrust law to cover anticompetitive conduct by individual companies, handing business groups a partial victory as the Legislature approaches a key deadline.

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    Assembly Bill 1776 would broaden California’s Cartwright Act, which has traditionally focused on conduct involving two or more companies, so that authorities could also pursue certain actions taken by a single company, according to a Bloomberg Government report.

    The measure remains alive, but amendments adopted Thursday removed provisions that had drawn objections from business interests, Bloomberg Government reported.

    Among the provisions eliminated was language addressing “cross-market balancing,” according to the report. Lawmakers also removed a requirement related to how courts would weigh pro-competitive explanations against alleged anticompetitive conduct within the same relevant market.

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    The changes came shortly before a Monday legislative deadline and followed negotiations over the scope of the proposed expansion, according to Bloomberg Government. Despite the revisions, the central feature of AB 1776 — extending the Cartwright Act to certain unilateral conduct by individual companies — remains in the legislation.

    The debate carries potentially significant implications for companies operating in California. Expanding the Cartwright Act beyond coordinated conduct could give state authorities and litigants another avenue for challenging business practices undertaken by dominant companies without an agreement with a competitor.

    At the same time, the latest amendments demonstrate the influence of business opposition as lawmakers determine how far California should depart from the existing framework of its principal antitrust statute.

    The revisions represent a compromise rather than a retreat from the broader effort. While provisions opposed by businesses were removed, lawmakers preserved the bill’s principal attempt to expand the reach of California antitrust enforcement.

    The legislation was still moving through the statehouse as lawmakers approached the end-of-session deadline.

    This article is based on reporting by Tran Nguyen for Bloomberg Government, published Aug. 28, 2026. The original report is available from Bloomberg Government.

    Source: Bloomberg Government