I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7369 

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 

JUNE 25, 2020 

Mr. MULLIN 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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cable Transparency 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 626 of the Communica3 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 546) is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) FRANCHISE TERM.—A franchise shall continue 

7 in effect (without any requirement for renewal) until the 

8 date on which the franchise is revoked or terminated in 

9 accordance with subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(b) LIMITS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST REVOCATION; TER12 MINATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 

13 franchise may not be— 

14 ‘‘(A) revoked by a franchising authority; 

15 ‘‘(B) terminated by a cable operator; or 

16 ‘‘(C) revoked or terminated by operation of 

17 law, including by a term in a franchise that re18 vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 

19 date, after a period of time, or upon the occur20 rence of an event. 

21 ‘‘(2) WHEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF

22 FRANCHISE PERMITTED.— 

23 ‘‘(A) TERMINATION BY CABLE OPER24 ATOR.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A cable operator 

26 may terminate a franchise by submitting 


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1 to the franchising authority a written re2 quest for the franchising authority to re3 voke such franchise. 

4 ‘‘(ii) TIME OF REVOCATION.—If the 

5 cable operator submits a complete request 

6 under clause (i), the franchising authority 

7 shall revoke the franchise on the date that 

8 is 90 days after the franchising authority 

9 receives such request. 

10 ‘‘(iii) DEEMED TO BE REVOKED.—If a 

11 franchising authority does not approve a 

12 request by the date required under clause 

13 (ii), the franchise is deemed revoked on the 

14 day after such date. 

15 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION BY FRANCHISING AU16 THORITY.—A franchising authority may revoke 

17 a franchise if the franchising authority— 

18 ‘‘(i) finds that the cable operator has 

19 knowingly and willfully failed to substan20 tially meet a material requirement imposed 

21 by the franchise; 

22 ‘‘(ii) provides the cable operator a rea23 sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 

24 after which the cable operator fails to cure 

25 such failure; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re2 quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 

3 substantially meet such requirement. 

4 ‘‘(3) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; 

5 RECEIVED.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of 

7 this subsection, a request shall be considered— 

8 ‘‘(i) complete if— 

9 ‘‘(I) the cable operator makes the 

10 request by submitting to the fran11 chising authority the form required to 

12 be used for making the request; 

13 ‘‘(II) the form submitted con14 tains all of the information specified 

15 by the form as being required to be 

16 included in form; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the cable operator has not 

18 received a written notice from the 

19 franchising authority within 10 busi20 ness days after the date on which the 

21 request is received by the franchising 

22 authority— 

23 ‘‘(aa) stating that the form 

24 does not contain all of the inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7369.IH H7369

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1 mation required to be included in 

2 the form; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor4 mation required to be included in 

5 the form that was not included; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) received by franchising author8 ity— 

9 ‘‘(I) in the case of a request sub10 mitted electronically, on the date on 

11 which the form required to be used 

12 for making the request is transmitted; 

13 ‘‘(II) in the case of a request 

14 submitted in person, on the date on 

15 which the form required to be used 

16 for making the request is delivered to 

17 the individual or at the location speci18 fied in the form for in-person submis19 sion; or 

20 ‘‘(III) in the case of a request 

21 submitted in any other manner, on 

22 the date determined by the fran23 chising authority for the manner in 

24 which the request is made. 


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1 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.— 

2 If a franchising authority requires the use of 

3 multiple forms for making a request under this 

4 subsection, such forms shall be treated as a sin5 gle form for purposes of subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—A cable operator may petition 

8 the Commission for review of a determination by a 

9 franchising authority to revoke a franchise under 

10 subsection (b)(2)(B). 

11 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review 

12 the determination de novo. 

13 ‘‘(3) ORDER.—If, based on the evidence pre14 sented during the review, the Commission deter15 mines that the franchising authority has not dem16 onstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 

17 the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 

18 accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B), the Commis19 sion shall order the franchising authority to rein20 state the franchise.’’. 

21 (b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE22 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica23 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read 

24 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE2 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the period in which a 

4 franchise is in effect, the cable operator may obtain the 

5 elimination or modification of any requirement in the fran6 chise by submitting to the franchising authority a request 

7 for the elimination or modification of such requirement. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE9 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—The franchising authority shall 

10 eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 

11 complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later 

12 than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable 

13 operator demonstrates in the request— 

14 ‘‘(1) good cause for the elimination or modifica15 tion of the requirement; and 

16 ‘‘(2) that the mix, quality, and level of services 

17 required by the franchise at the time the franchise 

18 was granted will be maintained after the elimination 

19 or modification of the requirement. 

20 ‘‘(c) DEEMED ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION.— 

21 Except in the case of a request for the elimination or 

22 modification of a requirement for services relating to pub23 lic, educational, or governmental access, if the franchising 

24 authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 

25 submitted under subsection (a) by the date described 

26 under subsection (b), the requirement shall be deemed 


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1 eliminated or modified in accordance with the request on 

2 the day after such date. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any cable operator whose 

5 request for elimination or modification of a require6 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been 

7 denied by a final decision of a franchising authority 

8 may obtain the elimination or modification of such 

9 franchise requirements pursuant to the provisions of 

10 section 635. 

11 ‘‘(2) GRANT OF REQUEST.—In the case of any 

12 proposed elimination or modification of a require13 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 

14 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 

15 the cable operator demonstrates to the court— 

16 ‘‘(A) good cause for the elimination or 

17 modification of the requirement; and 

18 ‘‘(B) that the mix, quality, and level of 

19 services required by the franchise at the time 

20 the franchise was granted will be maintained 

21 after the elimination or modification of the re22 quirement. 

23 ‘‘(e) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE24 CEIVED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this 

2 section, a request shall be considered— 

3 ‘‘(A) complete if— 

4 ‘‘(i) the cable operator makes the re5 quest by submitting to the franchising au6 thority the form required to be used for 

7 making the request; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the form submitted contains all 

9 of the information specified by the form as 

10 being required to be included in form; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the cable operator has not re12 ceived a written notice from the fran13 chising authority within 10 business days 

14 after the date on which the request is re15 ceived by the franchising authority— 

16 ‘‘(I) stating that the form does 

17 not contain all of the information re18 quired to be included in the form; and 

19 ‘‘(II) identifying the information 

20 required to be included in the form 

21 that was not included; and 

22 ‘‘(B) received by franchising authority— 

23 ‘‘(i) in the case of a request submitted 

24 electronically, on the date on which the 


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1 form required to be used for making the 

2 request is transmitted; 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub4 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

5 form required to be used for making the 

6 request is delivered to the individual or at 

7 the location specified in the form for in8 person submission; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request sub10 mitted in any other manner, on the date 

11 determined by the franchising authority for 

12 the manner in which the request is made. 

13 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE FORMS.—If a 

14 franchising authority requires the use of multiple 

15 forms for making a request under this section, such 

16 forms shall be treated as a single form for purposes 

17 of paragraph (1).’’. 

18 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in section 601— 

22 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi23 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

24 (B) by striking paragraph (5); and 


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1 (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

2 paragraph (5); 

3 (2) in section 602(9)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in6 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 

7 been granted subject to section 626),’’; 

8 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re9 quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 

10 franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 

11 (4) in section 612(b)(3)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘or as part of a proposal 

13 for renewal, subject to section 626,’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘, or proposal for renewal 

15 thereof,’’; 

16 (5) in section 621(b)(3)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 

18 ‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 

19 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re22 newal,’’; 

23 (6) in section 624— 


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1 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in2 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 

3 to section 626)’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or 

5 renewal thereof’’; 

6 (7) in section 627— 

7 (A) by striking subsection (a); 

8 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, as de9 scribed in section 626(b)(2)(B),’’ after ‘‘for 

10 cause’’; and 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘(b) If’’ and inserting ‘‘If’’; 

12 and 

13 (8) in section 635A(a), by striking ‘‘renewal,’’. 

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 

15 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 

16 amendments made by this section, shall take effect 

17 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 

18 Act. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.—This section, and the 

20 amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 

21 franchise granted— 

22 (A) on or after the effective date estab23 lished by paragraph (1); or 

24 (B) before such date, if such franchise (in25 cluding, notwithstanding the amendment made 


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1 by subsection (c)(2)(B), any renewal thereof) is 

2 in effect on such date. 

Æ 


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