The State Center

Programs

Agricultural Competition Partnership

Under a Cooperative Agreement with the Agricultural Marketing Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the State Center serves as the administrative resource for the Agricultural Competition Partnership which was established in Summer, 2023 between the U.S.D.A. and State Attorneys General to strengthen fair competition in the food and agriculture sector. The State Center is committed to facilitating the management and deployment of funds made available to the States Attorneys General in these efforts and to support the initiatives and projects undertaken by the Partnership.

Under the terms of the Partnership Manual, the States Attorneys Generals participating in the Partnership may submit requests for the use of Partnership Funds on projects that will further the Partnership’s purpose of enhancing competition across the agricultural and food sector.

Training & Education

In addition to its grant programs for experts and other resources, the State Center provides grants for and partners with educational institutions and other organizations to provide uniquely-helpful and relevant training and educational programs for public servants engaged in enforcing the States’ antitrust and consumer protection laws.  This has included training programs from experts in the fields of privacy and security, negotiation skills, trial practice and many other areas relevant to antitrust and consumer protection law enforcement.  Hundreds of assistant attorneys general (AAGs) and other employees of State Attorneys General have benefited from these programs.

To deliver training and education, the State Center has developed its own programming, worked with federal agencies and partnered with the National Association of Attorneys General, the American Bar Association, and other organizations. These programs have included multi-day trainings as well as single sessions, usually at no cost to the State Attorneys General’s Offices.  Examples of some recent programs include:

  • Regional Consumer Protection Trainings:  Periodically the State Center has partnered with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to sponsor regional meetings for AAGs, investigators and consumer complaint analysts to provide education on current issues and share best practices.  The State Center provides scholarship funds for attendee travel expenses and other program support.
  • Antitrust Boot Camp: In 2019 the State Center partnered with Loyola University’s School of Law and its Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies to provide two days of antitrust training for newer assistant attorneys general.  Approximately 60 AAGs attended.  The State Center provided scholarship funds for all attendees and other program support. Materials from the 2019 Antitrust Boot Camp are available here. Another Antitrust Boot Camp was provided in the summer of 2023.
  • Health Care Antitrust Conference:  In 2018, the State Center sponsored a Health Care Antitrust Workshop to explore current issues and how state attorneys general can effectively utilize their resources to analyze, investigate and litigate these matters. It was attended by 31 AAGs from 19 states and the faculty consisted of both experienced AAGs and outside experts. Materials assembled from the Health Care Antitrust Conference are available here.
  • Student Loan-related Conferences: Among consumer protection concerns generated by practices in the for-profit college industry were the significant student loans taken by consumers seeking to earn degrees and certifications. The State Center has sponsored and provided scholarships for AAGs to attend several workshops and other meetings on these issues.
  • State Action Workshop: The 2015 Supreme Court decision in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission, 135 S.Ct. 1101 (2015), triggered particular interest to consumer protection and antitrust practitioners regarding the scope of possible state action immunity and the State Center sponsored a workshop to enable AAGs to discuss the decision’s implications with experts so they could counsel state agencies. Following the workshop, the State Center commissioned the development of the State Action Primer, an aid for state boards to understand and provide guidance for compliance with the NC Dental standards. The State Action Primer, authored by Prof. Abraham L. Wickelgren, may be found here.
  • Speaker Stipends:  The State Center has frequently provided funds for outside speakers, such as law professors and industry experts, to present specialized training and education at antitrust and consumer protection conferences sponsored by the National Association of Attorneys General.

Ideas for training and education relevant to the work of State Attorneys General in their enforcement of antitrust and consumer protection laws are always welcome.