[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5290 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5290
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating to
franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the
elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2025
Mr. Weber of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating to
franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the
elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, 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 Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION.
(a) Elimination or Modification of Requirement in Franchise.--
Section 625 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT IN FRANCHISE.
``(a) In General.--During the period in which a franchise is in
effect, the cable operator may obtain the elimination or modification
of any requirement in the franchise by submitting to the franchising
authority a request for the elimination or modification of such
requirement.
``(b) Elimination or Modification of Requirement in Franchise.--
``(1) Requirement.--The franchising authority shall
eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a complete
request submitted under subsection (a) not later than 120 days
after receiving such request if the cable operator demonstrates
in the request--
``(A) good cause for the elimination or
modification of the requirement, including the need to
eliminate or modify the requirement--
``(i) to conform to an applicable Federal
or State law;
``(ii) to address changes in technology; or
``(iii) in the case of a requirement
applicable to the cable operator, due to
commercial impracticability; and
``(B) that the mix, quality, and level of cable
services required by the franchise at the time the
franchise was granted will be maintained
notwithstanding the elimination or modification of the
requirement;
``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `commercial
impracticability' means that it is commercially impracticable
for the operator to comply with the requirement as a result of
a change in conditions which is beyond the control of the
operator and the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption
on which the requirement was based.
``(c) Deemed Elimination or Modification.--Except in the case of a
request for the elimination or modification of a requirement for
services relating to public, educational, or governmental access, if
the franchising authority fails to approve or deny the complete request
submitted under subsection (a) by the date described under subsection
(b), the requirement shall be deemed eliminated or modified in
accordance with the request on the day after such date.
``(d) Appeal.--
``(1) In general.--Any cable operator whose request for
elimination or modification of a requirement in a franchise
under subsection (a) has been denied by a final decision of a
franchising authority may seek judicial review of the decision
pursuant to the provisions of section 635.
``(2) Grant of request.--In the case of any proposed
elimination or modification of a requirement in a franchise
under subsection (a), the court shall grant such elimination or
modification only if the cable operator demonstrates to the
court that the standards in subsection (b) have been met.
``(e) When Request Considered Complete.--
``(1) In general.--For the purposes of this section, a
request to a franchising authority shall be considered complete
if the cable operator--
``(A) has taken the first procedural step within
the control of the cable operator that the franchising
authority requires as part of the process established
by the franchising authority for reviewing any requests
related to franchises; and
``(B) 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--
``(i) 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;
``(ii) identifying the information required
to be submitted that was not submitted; and
``(iii) identifying the publicly available
rules, regulations, or standards issued by the
franchising authority requiring that the
information be submitted with such a request.
``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `the date
on which the request is received by the franchising authority'
means--
``(A) in the case of a request submitted
electronically, the date on which the request is
transmitted;
``(B) 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 the
franchising authority for in-person submission; and
``(C) 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) In General.--Section 626 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 546) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION.
``(a) Franchise Term.--A franchise shall continue in effect
(without any requirement for renewal) until the date on which the
franchise is revoked or terminated in accordance with subsection (b).
``(b) Limits.--
``(1) Prohibition against revocation; termination.--Except
as provided in paragraph (2), a franchise may not be--
``(A) revoked by a franchising authority;
``(B) terminated by a cable operator; or
``(C) revoked or terminated by operation of law,
including by a term in a franchise that revokes or
terminates such franchise on a specific date, after a
period of time, or upon the occurrence of an event.
``(2) When termination or revocation of franchise
permitted.--
``(A) Termination by cable operator.--
``(i) In general.--A cable operator may
terminate a franchise by submitting to the
franchising authority a written request for the
franchising authority to revoke such franchise.
``(ii) Time of revocation.--If the cable
operator submits a complete request under
clause (i), the franchising authority shall
revoke the franchise on the date that is 90
days after the franchising authority receives
such request.
``(iii) Deemed to be revoked.--If a
franchising authority does not approve a
request by the date required under clause (ii),
the franchise is deemed revoked on the day
after such date.
``(B) Termination by franchising authority.--A
franchising authority may revoke a franchise if the
franchising authority--
``(i) finds that the cable operator has
knowingly and willfully failed to substantially
meet a material requirement imposed by the
franchise;
``(ii) provides the cable operator a
reasonable opportunity to cure such failure,
after which the cable operator fails to cure
such failure; and
``(iii) does not waive the material
requirement or acquiesce with the failure to
substantially meet such requirement.
``(c) Review of Revocation of Franchise by Franchising Authority.--
``(1) Administrative or judicial review.--With respect to a
determination by a franchising authority to revoke a franchise
under subsection (b)(2)(B), a cable operator may--
``(A) petition the Commission for review of such
determination; or
``(B) seek judicial review of such determination
pursuant to the provisions of 635.
``(2) Commission review.--With respect to a petition for
the review of a determination brought under paragraph (1)(A),
the Commission shall--
``(A) review the determination de novo; and
``(B) invalidate the determination if, based on the
evidence presented during the review, the Commission
determines that the franchising authority has not
demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that
the franchising authority revoked the franchise in
accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B).
``(3) Stay of determination to revoke franchise.--A
revocation of a franchise under subsection (b)(2)(B) may be
stayed--
``(A) in the case the cable operator petitions the
Commission for review of the determination on which
such revocation is based, by the Commission; and
``(B) in the case the cable operator seeks judicial
review of the determination on which such revocation is
based, by the court in which the cable operator seeks
judicial review of the determination.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 601--
(A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semicolon at
the end and inserting ``; and'';
(B) by striking paragraph (5); and
(C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph
(5);
(2) in section 602(9)--
(A) by striking ``initial''; and
(B) by striking ``, or renewal thereof (including a
renewal of an authorization which has been granted
subject to section 626),'';
(3) in section 611(b), by striking ``and may require as
part of a cable operator's proposal for a franchise renewal,
subject to section 626'';
(4) in section 612(b)(3)--
(A) by striking ``or as part of a proposal for
renewal, subject to section 626,''; and
(B) by striking ``, or proposal for renewal
thereof,'';
(5) in section 621(b)(3)--
(A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``or
franchise renewal''; and
(B) in subparagraph (D)--
(i) by striking ``initial''; and
(ii) by striking ``, a franchise
renewal,'';
(6) in section 624--
(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``(including
requests for renewal proposals, subject to section
626)''; and
(B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``or renewal
thereof''; and
(7) in section 635A(a), by striking ``renewal,''.
(d) Effective Date; Application.--
(1) Effective date.--This section, and the amendments made
by this section, shall take effect 6 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(2) Application.--This section, and the amendments made by
this section, shall apply to a franchise granted--
(A) on or after the effective date established by
paragraph (1); or
(B) before such date, if--
(i) such franchise (including, any renewal
thereof before the date of the enactment of
this Act) is in effect on such date; or
(ii) such franchise is expired and the
cable operator has continued to perform under
the provisions of such franchise as if such
franchise were not expired.
<all>