Gavin Newsom signs California antitrust law that some say doesn't go far enough

Stephen Hobbs, The Sacramento Bee on Sep 30, 2026

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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday that aims to put a check on corporate power in the state, but that some advocates say does not go far enough.

The measure, Assembly Bill 1776, makes it unlawful for a company or person to hold a monopoly over business, even if they are acting on their own. It is an expansion of the state’s current antitrust law, known as the Cartwright Act. Courts have found that the act does not clearly prohibit actions by a single company to try and exclude rivals or treat them differently.

“Today we’re leveling the playing field for small businesses by making it easier to open and expand businesses, cutting red tape, and protecting competition,” Newsom said in a statement, announcing he had signed the bill and other measures.

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, the bill’s author, said AB 1776 was needed to help small businesses that are being elbowed out by corporations. It does not apply to any California companies with fewer than 100 employees and that make less than $10 million annually.

“I celebrate successful businesses, big and small,” Aguiar-Curry said in a statement. “But when a corporation stops competing by offering the best product or service and instead uses its power to crush competitors, government has a responsibility to step in.”

The measure received significant amendments in recent months in the face of strong opposition by the California Chamber of Commerce. An earlier version of the bill said anyone could bring legal action against businesses. Now, only the attorney general and district attorneys will be able to bring cases.

The business organization said the current version of the bill was less damaging than earlier ones, but it still did not want to see it become law.

“CalChamber’s member businesses believe that free market competition is an essential building block for a healthy economy,” the group said in a statement. “But AB 1776 is simply incompatible with federal antitrust law, and we remain opposed to its enactment.”

The American Economic Liberties Project, a previous supporter of the bill, said taking that and another provision out of the bill stripped the measure of its teeth, and caused it to withdraw its backing.

“We remain committed to building a real antimonopoly agenda in California, not one negotiated with corporate interests,” said Nidhi Hegde, the group’s executive director, after the Legislature passed it last month. A spokesperson for the organization said Wednesday its view hadn’t changed.

That said, consumer and labor groups supported the bill signing.

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