Members,
As you may be aware, in April 2019, the DOJ announced plans to review nearly 1,300 antitrust judgments enacted without end dates. In August, the 1963 Consent Decree was identified as one of the actions proposed for termination. It is important to note, that this is not a direct attack on the 1963 Consent Decree (U.S. v. Association of Casualty and Surety Companies, et al) but rather one item in a much larger de-regulatory initiative by the current administration.
The 1963 Consent Decree has served as an important document in the collision repair industry, which highlights an agreement between the insurance industry and the US government, to forever refrain from practices that were established as anti-competitive means of steering, price fixing and depressing and controlling automobile material damage repair costs.
ACTION ITEM 1:
The DOJ has provided an open comment period in which to oppose the termination of the judgement, with a deadline of October 2.
Comments should be directed to JudgmentTerminationComments@usdoj.gov and in the subject line include the case name (U.S. v. Association of Casualty and Surety Companies, et al) and docket number (63 Civ. 3106).
You can find the SCRS letter of opposition here, if you wish to use it as a template.
ACTION ITEM 2:
More importantly, given the short timeframe for public commentary to the DOJ, SCRS has also engaged in efforts to inform and work with key individuals on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
You can find the list of Senators on the committee here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members.
If you are in a state with a Senator on the committee, we ask that you write them a letter.
Download a working template to work with here.
We encourage you to customize it to express facts about your own business, and customize the specifics encourage [in between the brackets].
Once customized, place the letter onto your letterhead, that reflects your business address, and then forward your letter to SCRS Executive Director, Aaron Schulenburg, at aaron@scrs.com.
We hope this is helpful for those looking to be heard, and look forward to an engaged response from our membership and affiliates.
As always, thank you for your involvement in SCRS.
