[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4147 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4147

To strengthen the prohibition on price discrimination under the Clayton 
                      Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 19, 2026

Mr. Murphy (for himself, Mr. Welch, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Fetterman, and Mr. 
  Blumenthal) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To strengthen the prohibition on price discrimination under the Clayton 
                      Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Prices for Local Businesses 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CLAYTON ACT AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 2 (15 U.S.C. 13)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``in commerce'' each place 
                        it appears and inserting ``in commerce or in 
                        any activity affecting commerce'';
                            (ii) by striking ``commodities'' each place 
                        it appears and inserting ``products or 
                        services'';
                            (iii) by inserting ``service provision,'' 
                        after ``sale,'';
                            (iv) by striking ``goods, wares, or 
                        merchandise'' and inserting ``products or 
                        services'';
                            (v) by striking ``goods'' each place it 
                        appears and inserting ``products or services''; 
                        and
                            (vi) by inserting ``functional discounts 
                        or'' after ``due allowance for'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by inserting ``including a person 
                        charged with inducing or receiving such 
                        discrimination,'' after ``person charged with a 
                        violation of this section,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``: Provided, however, 
                        That nothing herein contained shall prevent a 
                        seller rebutting the prima-facie case thus made 
                        by showing that his lower price or the 
                        furnishing of services or facilities to any 
                        purchaser or purchasers was made in good faith 
                        to meet an equally low price of a competitor, 
                        or the services or facilities furnished by a 
                        competitor'';
                    (C) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``in commerce'' and 
                        inserting ``in commerce or in any activity 
                        affecting commerce''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``goods, wares, or 
                        merchandise'' and inserting ``products or 
                        services'';
                    (D) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) by striking ``in commerce'' and 
                        inserting ``in commerce or in any activity 
                        affecting commerce''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``products or 
                        commodities'' each place it appears and 
                        inserting ``products or services'';
                    (E) in subsection (e)--
                            (i) by inserting ``engaged in commerce or 
                        in any activity affecting commerce'' after 
                        ``any person''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``commodity'' each place 
                        it appears and inserting ``product or 
                        service'';
                    (F) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:
    ``(f)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any 
person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce, in 
the course of such commerce or in the course of any activity affecting 
commerce, to induce or receive the benefit of any violation of this 
section.
    ``(2) In the case of a person with annual retail sales that do not 
exceed $100,000,000,000, paragraph (1) shall only apply if the person 
knowingly induced or received the benefit of the violation of this 
section.''; and
                    (G) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `purchase' means to pay or grant anything of 
        value in exchange for a product or service; and
            ``(2) the term `purchaser' means a person who pays or 
        grants anything of value in exchange for a product or service, 
        whether or not--
                    ``(A) title passes to the payor or grantor; and
                    ``(B) the payor or grantor exercises dominion or 
                control over the product or service.''; and
            (2) in section 4 (15 U.S.C. 15)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ``and (c)'' 
                after ``Except as provided in subsection (b)'';
                    (B) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection 
                (d); and
                    (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the 
                following:
    ``(c) In an action brought with respect to a violation of any 
subsection of section 2, the plaintiff, upon a showing of proof that 
the plaintiff has been unlawfully discriminated against by the 
defendant--
            ``(1) shall conclusively be presumed to have sustained 
        injury and damages equal to the monetary amount or equivalent 
        of the unlawful discrimination; and
            ``(2) may establish damages in addition to the damages 
        described in paragraph (1), if any, that the plaintiff 
        sustained as a result of the discrimination.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to 
transactions occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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