Brief ⁽¹⁾

HB 2855 establishes the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act that would amend the current antitrust laws in Kansas.

Major provisions of the bill are as follows:

• The Attorney General would have sole antitrust enforcement powers by concentrating all enforcement power in the Attorney General rather than in county and district attorneys;



• Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action for damages on behalf of Kansas;



• Allows courts to impose a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $5,000 for each day a violation of this statute occurs; the bill clarifies that the penalty can be imposed, cumulatively, for each day a violation occurs;



• The Attorney General and the courts would have a range of remedies available for tailoring an appropriate remedy after liability is found; under current law there is a more limited range of remedies;



• Permits Kansas courts to exercise jurisdiction over nonresident entities that violate this statute to the maximum extent allowed by the United States Constitution;



• Permits enforcement actions to be filed in Shawnee County District Court;



• Consolidates the provisions of current law into a single statute called the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act; as a result, all state antitrust actions would be governed by one uniform set of procedural rules, one uniform set of available remedies, and one uniform set of investigative powers;



• Makes the entire statute civil and repeals the miscellaneous criminal penalties in the current law; all enforcement litigation would be under the Code of Civil Procedure; and



• Allows the Attorney General to order the disbursement of funds from the Attorney General's Antitrust Special Revenue Fund for the payment of expenses which can include such items as professional and witness fees, deposition costs, investigation, and travel and subsistence.

The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill to provide that, in civil actions prosecuted by the Attorney General regarding antitrust laws in which moneys are recovered, the Attorney General is authorized to deposit 20 percent (current law is 10 percent) of the amount recovered in the Attorney General's antitrust Special Revenue Fund. Further, the amendment extended the investigative powers of the Attorney General to include investigations of "any announced conduct of any person" that may have the effect of lessening competition or creating a monopoly.

The Senate Committee deleted the House Committee of the Whole amendment relating to broader investigative powers of the Attorney General and made a technical amendment.

The Senate Committee of the Whole broadened the investigative powers of the Attorney General to cover situations involving the announcement of a merger between entities exceeding $500 million that may have the effect of substantially lessening competition, tending to create a monopoly or otherwise violating the Restraint of Trade Act.

Background

The Special Counsel from the Governor's Office appeared in support of the bill. Also appearing in favor of the measure were conferees representing the Attorney General, the Kansas Livestock Association, and Kansas Farm Bureau.

The fiscal note was not available when the bill was passed.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html