A March 9 feature article at Utahpolicy.org discusses Sen. Mike Lee's reintroduction of the One Agency Act in the 117th Congress. If the bill becomes law, it would consolidate agency merger reviews at the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, the bill would remove the authority of the FCC and state public utility commissions to conduct duplicative competitive analyses in reviewing mergers.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May is quoted in the article. While FSF President May takes no position on the DOJ/FTC antitrust consolidation, he does commend the provisions relating to reforming the FCC's transaction review process:
The part of the One Agency Act that prevents the FCC and state public utility commissions from duplicating the Department of Justice's analysis of a transaction's competitive effects makes eminent sense. And the bill's limitations on the FCC's invocation of its vague "public interest" authority, which the agency often has abused by imposing a multitude of conditions unrelated to any impact resulting from the proposed transaction, would constitute a significant improvement. Together, these two aspects of Senator Lee's bill would constitute a meaningful reform of the review process applicable to transactions involving communications firms.
The text of the One Agency Act is available here and Sen. Lee's press release for the bill (which also quotes FSF President May) is here.
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