[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5170 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5170
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising
authority, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 8, 2025
Mr. Balderson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising
authority, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Cable Access for Broadband and Local
Economic Leadership Act'' or the ``CABLE Leadership Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUEST FOR NEW FRANCHISE.
Section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Timing of Decision on Request for Franchise.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date
on which a franchising authority receives a complete request
for the grant of a franchise (other than a renewal thereof),
the franchising authority shall approve or deny such request.
``(2) Deemed grant of new franchise.--If the franchising
authority does not approve or deny a request under paragraph
(1) by the day after the date on which the time period ends
under such paragraph, such request shall be deemed granted on
such day.
``(3) Applicability.--Notwithstanding any provision of this
title, the timeframe under paragraph (1) shall apply
collectively to all proceedings required by a franchising
authority for the approval of the request.
``(4) No tolling.--The timeframe under paragraph (1) may
not be tolled by any moratorium, whether express or de facto,
imposed by a franchising authority on the consideration of any
request for a franchise.
``(5) Written decision and record.--Any decision by a
franchising authority to deny a complete request for a
franchise shall be--
``(A) in writing;
``(B) supported by substantial evidence contained
in a written record; and
``(C) publicly released, and provided to the
requesting party, on the same day such decision is
made.
``(6) When request considered complete; received.--
``(A) When request considered complete.--
``(i) In general.--For the purposes of this
subsection, a request to a franchising
authority shall be considered complete if the
requesting party--
``(I) has taken the first
procedural step within the control of
the requesting party that the
franchising authority requires as part
of the process of the franchising
authority for reviewing requests
related to franchises; and
``(II) has not received a written
notice from the franchising authority
within 30 days after the date on which
the request is received by the
franchising authority--
``(aa) stating that all the
information (including any form
or other document) required by
the franchising authority to be
submitted for the request to be
considered complete, has not
been submitted;
``(bb) identifying the
information required to be
submitted that was not
submitted; and
``(cc) that includes a
citation to a specific
provision of a publicly
available rule, regulation, or
standard issued by the
franchising authority requiring
that the information be
submitted with such a request.
``(ii) Definition.--In this subparagraph,
the term `the date on which the request is
received by the franchising authority' means--
``(I) in the case of a request
submitted electronically, the date on
which the request is transmitted;
``(II) in the case of a request
submitted in person, the date on which
the request is delivered to the
individual or at the location specified
by franchising authority for in-person
submission; and
``(III) in the case of a request
submitted in any other manner, the date
determined under regulations
promulgated by the Commission for the
manner in which the request is
submitted.
``(B) When complete request considered received.--
For the purposes of this subsection, a complete request
shall be considered received--
``(i) except as provided in clause (ii), on
the date on which the requesting party submits
to the franchising authority all information
(including any form or other document) required
by the franchising authority to be submitted
for the request to be considered complete; or
``(ii) in the case of a request with
respect to which all such information is not
submitted and that is considered complete under
subparagraph (A)(i) because the requesting
party has not received a written notice from
the franchising authority within the period
described in such subparagraph, on the day
after the last day of such period.''.
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