Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1937 To promote merger enforcement and protect competition through adjusting premerger filing fees, and increasing antitrust enforcement resources. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2019 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To promote merger enforcement and protect competition through adjusting premerger filing fees, and increasing antitrust enforcement resources. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Merger Filing Fee 4 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PREMERGER NOTIFICATION FILING FEES. 6 Section 605 of Public Law 101–162 (15 U.S.C. 18a 7 note) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (b)— 9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1937.IS S1937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1937 IS (i) by striking ‘‘$45,000’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘$30,000’’; 2 (ii) by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘$161,500,000’’; 4 (iii) by striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘2020’’; and 6 (iv) by striking ‘‘2003’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘2019’’; 8 (B) in paragraph (2)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘$125,000’’ and insert- 10 ing ‘‘$100,000’’; 11 (ii) by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘$161,500,000’’; 13 (iii) by striking ‘‘but less’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘but is less’’; and 15 (iv) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 16 (C) in paragraph (3)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘$280,000’’ and insert- 18 ing ‘‘$250,000’’; and 19 (ii) by striking the period at the end 20 and inserting ‘‘but is less than 21 $1,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and pub- 22 lished);’’; and 23 (D) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1937.IS S1937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1937 IS ‘‘(4) $400,000 if the aggregate total amount 1 determined under section 7A(a)(2) of the Clayton 2 Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)(2)) is not less than 3 $1,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and published) but 4 is less than $2,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and 5 published); 6 ‘‘(5) $800,000 if the aggregate total amount 7 determined under section 7A(a)(2) of the Clayton 8 Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)(2)) is not less than 9 $2,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and published) but 10 is less than $5,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and 11 published); and 12 ‘‘(6) $2,250,000 if the aggregate total amount 13 determined under section 7A(a)(2) of the Clayton 14 Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)(2)) is not less than 15 $5,000,000,000 (as so adjusted and published).’’; 16 and 17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(c)(1) For each fiscal year commencing after Sep- 19 tember 30, 2020, the filing fees in this section shall be 20 increased as of October 1 each year by an amount equal 21 to the percentage increase, if any, in the Producer Price 22 Index, as determined by the Department of Commerce or 23 its successor, for the year then ended over the level so 24 established for the year ending September 30, 2019. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1937.IS S1937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1937 IS ‘‘(2) As soon as practicable, but not later than Janu- 1 ary 31 of each year, the Federal Trade Commission shall 2 publish the adjusted amounts required by this section. 3 ‘‘(3) The Federal Trade Commission shall not adjust 4 amounts required by this section if the percentage increase 5 described in paragraph (1) is less than 1 percent. 6 ‘‘(4) An amount adjusted under this section shall be 7 rounded to the nearest multiple of $5,000.’’. 8 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 9 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 10 2020— 11 (1) $180,606,000 for the Antitrust Division of 12 the Department of Justice; and 13 (2) $342,000,000 for the Federal Trade Com- 14 mission. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1937.IS S1937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS