Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA).
In response, more than two dozen of Small Business Rising’s members and business owners released the following statement:
“Today, lawmakers took the first step toward promoting fair competition on the Big Tech platforms by reintroducing legislation that would outlaw some of the most egregious tactics they use to exploit and undermine small businesses. If passed, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) – a bill prohibiting Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Alphabet from preferencing their products over businesses that depend on them to reach customers online – is a win for America's entrepreneurs and the tens of thousands of small businesses we represent.
“However, we have been here before. Small Business Rising coalition partners lobbied Congress to pass this bill last Congress, but Big Tech lobbyists spent millions to effectively squash our efforts. The small businesses our coalition represents will continue speaking out and exposing Amazon’s predatory practices until Congress hears us and acts.
“Concentrated market power is the single biggest threat facing independent, small businesses. America’s small businesses are the backbone of our local economies and our local communities — and, yet, every day we lose more independent businesses because of the abusive and anti-competitive tactics of monopolistic corporations like Amazon.
Passing AICOA is long overdue, but we will continue to urge to lawmakers to pass this bill and enact additional measures needed to create competitive digital markets and address monopoly power problems across the economy, including working with the regulatory agencies to address issues like predatory buying and harmful mergers.”
Sincerely,
American Booksellers Association
American Independent Business Alliance
American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
Austin Local Business Alliance
Cambridge Local First
Dane Buy Local
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
The Local Crowd Monadnock
Local First Arizona
Local First, La Plata
Local Return
Love Live Local Inc
Lowcountry Local First
Main Street Alliance
National Bicycle Dealers Association
New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association
North American Hardware and Paint Association
North American Marine Alliance
People First Economy
Running Industry Association
Shop Local Raleigh
Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (SMSBF)
Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance
Workplace Solutions Association
World Pet Association
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Partner Statements
The following statements show support from business owners, business associations and advocacy organizations:
“More and more of Distil Union's dollars go to Amazon and Facebook. It hurts to know that, in a way, we're funding their lobbying efforts that make it more of a struggle than it needs to be for us to maintain a profitable business. Despite their failure to vote on this bipartisan legislation last year, we urge Congress to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and sign it into law. Taking action to make Amazon more fair for small businesses has GOT to happen now!”
— Lindsay Windham and Nate Justiss, Co-Founders, Distil Union
“Concentrated market power is the single biggest threat facing small, independent businesses. Amazon, Google, and Facebook wield an especially dangerous form of market power. These companies control the infrastructure that other businesses must rely on to communicate with their customers and to market and sell their products. They have been systematically exploiting that position to favor their own products and thwart those of competitors. Amazon, in particular, has a long track record of bullying small businesses, stealing their best ideas, and saddling them with exorbitant fees. Each year that Amazon has grown, my business has shrunk. I urge Congress to take action now to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act to restore fair competition for independent businesses.”
— Gina Schaefer, Founder & Co-Owner, A Few Cool Hardware Stores
"Amazon has been “boxing out” independent bookstores and other small businesses all across the country, resulting in the loss of local jobs, local sales tax revenue, and a sense of neighborhood character and community. People may not realize the cost and consequences of Amazon’s “convenience” until it’s too late. ABA applauds the 2023 introduction of the American Choice & Innovation Online Act as a critical first step in leveling the playing field to support small business, communities, and consumers, and we urge Congress to pass this important legislation."
— Allison Hill, CEO, American Booksellers Association
“I hear regularly from businesses in my community about the challenges they face from Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google's monopoly hold over the digital marketplace. If a seller’s product becomes popular, Amazon is likely to clone it and sell the competing product under its own AmazonBasics brand – sometimes using the data it collects from the seller to design and market the competing product. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will help restore competitive balance to the American tech sector, which is great for consumers and small businesses. We urge Congress to move swiftly to pass this bipartisan legislation and level the playing field for Arizona’s small businesses.”
— Kimber Lanning, Founder & CEO, Local First Arizona
“Congress must pass meaningful bipartisan legislation to help level the playing field for independent businesses competing with big tech platforms. With the introduction of the American Innovation and Online Choice Act, we need Congress to step up and pass this important legislation, so it can reach President Biden’s desk before the end of the year. These platforms are ingrained into our commerce system -- let’s provide some fairness and oversight to support small businesses.”
— Jennifer Risley, Director of Operations, American Independent Business Alliance
Additional information about Small Business Rising and Congress’s efforts to regulate big tech:
Concentrated market power is the single biggest threat facing independent businesses, and the status quo in our digital markets is untenable.
Members of the Small Business Rising coalition have advocated for Congress to take swift action to address Big Tech’s growing power and dominance in the digital marketplace. Most recently, twenty-four independent business organizations representing small businesses across the country delivered a letter to congressional leadership in November urging Congress to pass the AICOA before the end of the year.
Absent these reforms, tech giants will continue to corner the digital markets and use their power to favor their own products while blocking those of us representing Main Street businesses.
About Small Business Rising:
Small Business Rising, a coalition of nearly 40 organizations representing more than 250,000 independent businesses, was formed in 2021 to urge policymakers to rein in monopoly power and inject fairness into a system that has long left small businesses at a competitive disadvantage.