By: Barrientos S.B. No. 881 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to authorizing the Attorney General to bring an action to 1-2 recover damages sustained, either directly or indirectly, by 1-3 persons or governmental entities attributable to conduct declared 1-4 unlawful by the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act, and 1-5 matters related thereto. 1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-7 SECTION 1. The Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act, Tex. 1-8 Bus. & Com. Code Ann. Sec. 15.21, is amended to add the following 1-9 subsection to read as follows: 1-10 (d) SUITS ON BEHALF OF INDIRECT PURCHASERS. 1-11 (1) The Attorney General may bring a civil suit to 1-12 recover damages on behalf of any person or governmental entity, 1-13 including the State of Texas and any of its political subdivisions 1-14 or tax supported institutions, whose business or property has been 1-15 injured, either directly or indirectly, by any conduct declared 1-16 unlawful in Subsection (a), (b), or (c) of Section 15.05 of this 1-17 Act, and, if successful, shall recover any actual damages sustained 1-18 by such person or governmental entity. 1-19 (2) In any action under this section, any defendant 1-20 shall be entitled to prove as a partial or complete defense to a 1-21 claim for damages that the illegal overcharge has been passed on to 1-22 others who are themselves entitled to recover so as to avoid 1-23 duplication of recovery of damages. 2-1 (3) In any case in which claims are asserted by both 2-2 direct purchasers and the Attorney General on behalf of indirect 2-3 purchasers, the court shall take all actions necessary to avoid 2-4 multiplicity of suits and duplication of damages, including the 2-5 consolidation and/or transfer of and and/or all actions relating to 2-6 the same injury. 2-7 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993. 2-8 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.