[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5311 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5311
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising
authority, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 11, 2025
Ms. Fedorchak 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 ``Connecting And Building Lines for
Expedited Expansion Act'' or the ``CABLE Expansion Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUEST REGARDING PLACEMENT, CONSTRUCTION, OR MODIFICATION OF
CERTAIN FACILITIES.
Section 624 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 544) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(j) Request Regarding Placement, Construction, or Modification of
Certain Facilities.--
``(1) No affect on authority of franchising authority.--
Except as provided in paragraph (2), and notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, nothing in this title shall
limit or affect the authority of a franchising authority over
decisions regarding the placement, construction, and
modification of a covered facility within the jurisdiction of
such franchising authority.
``(2) Limitations.--
``(A) Ability to provide or enhance cable
service.--The regulation of the placement,
construction, or modification of a covered facility by
a franchising authority shall not prohibit or have the
effect of prohibiting the ability of a cable operator
to provide cable service, or enhance cable service
provided, under a franchise granted by such franchising
authority.
``(B) Timing of decisions on requests for
authorizations to place, construct, or modify
facility.--
``(i) Request for authorization to place,
construct, or modify facility.--
``(I) Timeframe.--A franchising
authority shall approve or deny a
complete request for authorization to
place, construct, or modify a covered
facility not later than--
``(aa) if the request is
for authorization to place,
construct, or modify a covered
facility in or on an eligible
support infrastructure, 90 days
after the date on which the
franchising authority receives
the request; and
``(bb) if the request is
not for authorization to place,
construct modify a covered
facility in or on an eligible
support infrastructure, 150
days after the date on which
franchising authority receives
the request.
``(II) Applicability.--
Notwithstanding any provision of this
title, the applicable timeframe under
subparagraph (A) shall apply
collectively to all proceedings
required by a franchising authority for
the approval of the request.
``(III) No tolling.--A timeframe
under subparagraph (A) may not be
tolled by any moratorium, whether
express or de facto, imposed by a
franchising authority on the
consideration of any request for
authorization to place, construct, or
modify a facility for the provision of
cable service.
``(IV) Written decision and
record.--Any decision by a franchising
authority to deny a complete request
for authorization to place, construct,
or modify a covered facility shall be--
``(aa) in writing;
``(bb) supported by
substantial evidence contained
in a written record; and
``(cc) publicly released,
contemporaneously with the
decision.
``(C) When request considered complete; received.--
``(i) When request considered complete.--
``(I) In general.--For the purposes
of this subparagraph (B), a request to
a franchising authority shall be
considered complete if the requesting
party has not received a written notice
from the franchising authority within
10 business 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; and
``(bb) identifying the
information required to be
submitted that was not
submitted.
``(II) Definition.--In this clause,
the term `received by the franchising
authority' means--
``(aa) in the case of a
request submitted
electronically, on the date on
which the request is
transmitted;
``(bb) in the case of a
request submitted in person, on
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
``(cc) in the case of a
request submitted in any other
manner, on the date determined
under regulations promulgated
by the Commission for the
manner in which the request is
submitted.
``(ii) When complete request considered
received.--For the purposes of subparagraph
(B), a complete request shall be considered
received 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.
``(D) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(i) Eligible support infrastructure.--The
term `eligible support infrastructure' means
infrastructure that supports or houses a
facility for communication by wire (or is
designed to and capable of supporting or
housing such facility) at the time when a
complete request to a franchising authority for
authorization to place, construct, or modify a
covered facility in or on the infrastructure is
received by the franchising authority.
``(ii) Covered facility.--The term `covered
facility' means a facility--
``(I) for the provision of cable
service; and
``(II) that serves subscribers
using an easement or public right-of-
way.''.
<all>