{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/senators-murkowski-sullivan-celebrate-victory-for-accessibility-and-affordability-of-groceries-in-alaska", "Senators Murkowski, Sullivan Celebrate Victory for Accessibility and Affordability of Groceries in Alaska", "2024-12-11", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", "murkowski", "https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/press-releases?PageNum_rs=10", "scraper", "Washington, DC \u2013 Following the news that Albertsons has backed out of the $24.6 billion merger with Kroger after a federal judge in Oregon and state judge in Washington blocked the deal yesterday, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-Alaska) released the following statements:\n\n\"I have been working with the delegation for over a year to amplify the justified concerns Alaskans have about this merger, and I\u2019m pleased that the courts have now recognized what we knew, that it would have imposed significant harms on Alaskans. That Albertsons has now backed out is evidence that this was a bad idea from the start,\u201d Senator Murkowski said. \u201cToday marks a victory for Alaskans seeking affordable and accessible groceries for their families.\u201d\n\n\u201cI appreciate the court\u2019s decision to block this merger,\u201d said Senator Sullivan. \u201cMany Alaskans were concerned about this merger resulting in grocery store closures and higher prices in Alaska, especially as our state already faces some of the highest prices for food and basic goods in the country. Senator Murkowski and I demanded the FTC conduct a rigorous analysis to ensure that Alaskans would not be negatively impacted by this merger. The FTC found that the merger would likely reduce competition and raise prices\u2014putting further strain on working families in our state. The courts agreed, which is good news for our state.\u201d\n\nBackground: On September 22, 2023, Senators Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) sent a letter to the Lina Khan, Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), expressing their concerns about the Albertsons-Kroger merger. They identified Alaskans\u2019 concerns about how it would affect consumer prices, the state\u2019s food security, and Alaskan employees and their union contracts.\n\nAs part of the merger, Kroger announced a $1.9 billion divesture agreement, which proposed selling 14 of 35 existing Carrs-Safeway stores in Alaska owned by Albertsons to C&S Wholesale, LLC. The stores up for sale are located in Anchorage, Girdwood, Fairbanks, Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla, Juneau, Kenai, Soldotna, and the North Pole, according to the proposed divestiture list.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/senators-murkowski-sullivan-celebrate-victory-for-accessibility-and-affordability-of-groceries-in-alaska"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.614779932424426, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}