From EMA
In a bipartisan victory for small businesses, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Main Street Competes Act (H.R. 8882). The legislation, introduced by Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-KS) and Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), expands the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) role in promoting competitive markets and evaluating whether current antitrust enforcement adequately protects opportunities for entrepreneurs and independent businesses.
EMA is a member of the Main Street Competition Coalition (MSCC), which represents thousands of independent businesses and agricultural producers nationwide, and strongly welcomed the measure.
“Small businesses depend on open and competitive markets to innovate, invest, and grow,” said Chris Jones, Executive Director of the Main Street Competition Coalition. “Today’s House passage of the Main Street Competes Act is an important recognition that competition policy is small business policy. By giving the Small Business Administration a more active role in assessing the health of competition in our economy, Congress has taken an important step toward ensuring that the voices of independent businesses and agricultural producers are heard in our nation’s antitrust debates.”
The coalition had previously sent a letter to House members in support of the bill. It commended Representatives Schmidt and Scholten for their bipartisan leadership and thanked the House Small Business Committee for advancing legislation that recognizes the critical link between competitive markets, entrepreneurship, consumer choice, and broad-based economic opportunity.
The MSCC said it looks forward to continuing its work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to ensure that competition policy serves the interests of Main Street businesses and consumers alike.
This legislative development underscores growing bipartisan interest in making competition enforcement more responsive to the needs of smaller players in the economy. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
