I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4287 

To restrict any State or local jurisdiction from imposing a new discriminatory 

tax on cell phone services, providers, or property. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2015 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FARENTHOLD, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. GOSAR, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. ISSA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MILLER of 

Florida, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. LANCE, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. 

OLSON, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. POLIS, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. SCHRADER, 

Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SWALWELL of California, 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. TONKO, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MARINO, Mr. 

JORDAN, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. AL

GREEN of Texas, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. 

FLORES, Mr. PITTS, Mr. WEBSTER of Florida, Mr. BARTON, Mr. 

CHABOT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. DENHAM) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To restrict any State or local jurisdiction from imposing 

a new discriminatory tax on cell phone services, providers, or property. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Tax Fairness 

3 Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) It is appropriate to exercise congressional 

7 enforcement authority under section 5 of the 14th 

8 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 

9 and Congress’ plenary power under article I, section 

10 8, clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States 

11 (commonly known as the ‘‘commerce clause’’) in 

12 order to ensure that States and political subdivisions 

13 thereof do not discriminate against providers and 

14 consumers of mobile services by imposing new selec15 tive and excessive taxes and other burdens on such 

16 providers and consumers. 

17 (2) In light of the history and pattern of dis18 criminatory taxation faced by providers and con19 sumers of mobile services, the prohibitions against 

20 and remedies to correct discriminatory State and 

21 local taxation in section 306 of the Railroad Revital22 ization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (49 

23 U.S.C. 11501) provide an appropriate analogy for 

24 congressional action, and similar Federal legislative 

25 measures are warranted that will prohibit imposing 

26 new discriminatory taxes on providers and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Dec 22, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4287.IH H4287

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1 sumers of mobile services and that will assure an ef2 fective, uniform remedy. 

3 SEC. 3. MORATORIUM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—No State or local jurisdiction shall 

5 impose a new discriminatory tax on or with respect to mo6 bile services, mobile service providers, or mobile service 

7 property, during the 5-year period beginning on the date 

8 of enactment of this Act. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

10 (1) MOBILE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘mobile serv11 ice’’ means commercial mobile radio service, as such 

12 term is defined in section 20.3 of title 47, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of en14 actment of this Act, or any other service that is pri15 marily intended for receipt on, transmission from, or 

16 use with a mobile telephone or other mobile device, 

17 including but not limited to the receipt of a digital 

18 good. 

19 (2) MOBILE SERVICE PROPERTY.—The term 

20 ‘‘mobile service property’’ means all property used 

21 by a mobile service provider in connection with its 

22 business of providing mobile services, whether real, 

23 personal, tangible, or intangible (including goodwill, 

24 licenses, customer lists, and other similar intangible 

25 property associated with such business). 


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1 (3) MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘mobile service provider’’ means any entity that sells 

3 or provides mobile services, but only to the extent 

4 that such entity sells or provides mobile services. 

5 (4) NEW DISCRIMINATORY TAX.—The term 

6 ‘‘new discriminatory tax’’ means a tax imposed by a 

7 State or local jurisdiction that is imposed on or with 

8 respect to, or is measured by, the charges, receipts, 

9 or revenues from or value of— 

10 (A) a mobile service and is not generally 

11 imposed, or is generally imposed at a lower 

12 rate, on or with respect to, or measured by, the 

13 charges, receipts, or revenues from other serv14 ices or transactions involving tangible personal 

15 property; 

16 (B) a mobile service provider and is not 

17 generally imposed, or is generally imposed at a 

18 lower rate, on other persons that are engaged 

19 in businesses other than the provision of mobile 

20 services; or 

21 (C) a mobile service property and is not 

22 generally imposed, or is generally imposed at a 

23 lower rate, on or with respect to, or measured 

24 by the value of, other property that is devoted 

25 to a commercial or industrial use and subject to 


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1 a property tax levy, except public utility prop2 erty owned by a public utility subject to rate of 

3 return regulation by a State or Federal regu4 latory authority; 

5 unless such tax was imposed and actually enforced 

6 on mobile services, mobile service providers, or mo7 bile service property prior to the date of enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 (5) STATE OR LOCAL JURISDICTION.—The term 

10 ‘‘State or local jurisdiction’’ means any of the sev11 eral States, the District of Columbia, any territory 

12 or possession of the United States, a political sub13 division of any State, territory, or possession, or any 

14 governmental entity or person acting on behalf of 

15 such State, territory, possession, or subdivision that 

16 has the authority to assess, impose, levy, or collect 

17 taxes or fees. 

18 (6) TAX.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘tax’’ means 

20 a charge imposed by a governmental entity for 

21 the purpose of generating revenues for govern22 mental purposes, and excludes a fee imposed on 

23 a particular entity or class of entities for a spe24 cific privilege, service, or benefit conferred ex25 clusively on such entity or class of entities. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘tax’’ does 

2 not include any fee or charge— 

3 (i) used to preserve and advance Fed4 eral universal service or similar State pro5 grams authorized by section 254 of the 

6 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

7 254); 

8 (ii) specifically dedicated by a State or 

9 local jurisdiction for the support of E–911 

10 communications systems; or 

11 (iii) used to preserve and advance 

12 Federal telecommunications relay services 

13 or State programs implementing this Fed14 eral mandate pursuant to title IV of the 

15 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

16 (Public Law 101–336; 104 Stat. 327) and 

17 codified in section 225 of the Communica18 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 225). 

19 (c) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

20 (1) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of sub21 section (b)(4), all taxes, tax rates, exemptions, de22 ductions, credits, incentives, exclusions, and other 

23 similar factors shall be taken into account in deter24 mining whether a tax is a new discriminatory tax. 


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1 (2) APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES.—Except as 

2 otherwise provided in this Act, in determining 

3 whether a tax on mobile service property is a new 

4 discriminatory tax for purposes of subsection 

5 (b)(4)(C), principles similar to those set forth in sec6 tion 306 of the Railroad Revitalization and Regu7 latory Reform Act of 1976 (49 U.S.C. 11501) shall 

8 apply. 

9 (3) EXCLUSIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 

10 provision of this Act— 

11 (A) the term ‘‘generally imposed’’ as used 

12 in subsection (b)(4) shall not apply to any tax 

13 imposed only on— 

14 (i) specific services; 

15 (ii) specific industries or business seg16 ments; or 

17 (iii) specific types of property; and 

18 (B) the term ‘‘new discriminatory tax’’ 

19 shall not include a new tax or the modification 

20 of an existing tax that either— 

21 (i)(I) replaces one or more taxes that 

22 had been imposed on mobile services, mo23 bile service providers, or mobile service 

24 property; and 


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1 (II) is designed so that, based on in2 formation available at the time of the en3 actment of such new tax or such modifica4 tion, the amount of tax revenues generated 

5 thereby with respect to such mobile serv6 ices, mobile service providers, or mobile 

7 service property is reasonably expected to 

8 not exceed the amount of tax revenues that 

9 would have been generated by the respec10 tive replaced tax or taxes with respect to 

11 such mobile services, mobile service pro12 viders, or mobile service property; or 

13 (ii) is a local jurisdiction tax that may 

14 not be imposed without voter approval, 

15 provides for at least 90 days’ prior notice 

16 to mobile service providers, and is required 

17 by law to be collected from mobile service 

18 customers. 

19 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

20 Notwithstanding any provision of section 1341 of title 

21 28, United States Code, or the constitution or laws of any 

22 State, the district courts of the United States shall have 

23 jurisdiction, without regard to amount in controversy or 

24 citizenship of the parties, to grant such mandatory or pro25 hibitive injunctive relief, interim equitable relief, and deVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Dec 22, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4287.IH H4287

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1 claratory judgments as may be necessary to prevent, re2 strain, or terminate any acts in violation of this Act. 

3 (1) JURISDICTION.—Such jurisdiction shall not 

4 be exclusive of the jurisdiction which any Federal or 

5 State court may have in the absence of this section. 

6 (2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The burden of proof 

7 in any proceeding brought under this Act shall be 

8 upon the party seeking relief and shall be by a pre9 ponderance of the evidence on all issues of fact. 

10 (3) RELIEF.—In granting relief against a tax 

11 which is discriminatory or excessive under this Act 

12 with respect to tax rate or amount only, the court 

13 shall prevent, restrain, or terminate the imposition, 

14 levy, or collection of not more than the discrimina15 tory or excessive portion of the tax as determined by 

16 the court. 

17 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY. 

18 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

19 States shall conduct a study, throughout the 5-year period 

20 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, to 

21 determine— 

22 (1) how, and the extent to which, taxes imposed 

23 by local and State jurisdictions on mobile services, 

24 mobile service providers, or mobile property, impact 

25 the costs consumers pay for mobile services; and 


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1 (2) the extent to which the moratorium on dis2 criminatory mobile services taxes established in this 

3 Act has any impact on the costs consumers pay for 

4 mobile services. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 years after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

7 submit, to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

8 of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary 

9 of the Senate, a report containing the results of the study 

10 required under subsection (a) and shall include in such 

11 report recommendations for any changes to laws and regu12 lations relating to such results. 

Æ 


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