I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1064 

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 

FEBRUARY 15, 2021 

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 ‘‘(C) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM5 PLETE; RECEIVED.— 

6 ‘‘(i) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED

7 COMPLETE.— 

8 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For the pur9 poses of this paragraph, a request to 

10 a franchising authority shall be con11 sidered complete if the cable operator 

12 has not received a written notice from 

13 the franchising authority within 10 

14 business days after the date on which 

15 the request is received by the fran16 chising authority— 

17 ‘‘(aa) stating that all the in18 formation (including any form or 

19 other document) required by the 

20 franchising authority to be sub21 mitted for the request to be con22 sidered complete has not been 

23 submitted; and 

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1 ‘‘(bb) identifying the infor2 mation required to be submitted 

3 that was not submitted. 

4 ‘‘(II) DEFINITION.—In this 

5 clause, the term ‘received by the fran6 chising authority’ means— 

7 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a re8 quest submitted electronically, on 

9 the date on which the request is 

10 transmitted; 

11 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a re12 quest submitted in person, on the 

13 date on which the request is de14 livered to the individual or at the 

15 location specified by the fran16 chising authority for in-person 

17 submission; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) in the case of a re19 quest submitted in any other 

20 manner, on the date determined 

21 under regulations promulgated by 

22 the Commission for the manner 

23 in which the request is sub24 mitted. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CON2 SIDERED RECEIVED.—For the purposes of 

3 this paragraph, a complete request shall be 

4 considered received on the date on which 

5 the cable operator submits to the fran6 chising authority all information (including 

7 any form or other document) required by 

8 the franchising authority to be submitted 

9 for the request to be considered complete. 

10 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMMISSION.— 

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

12 the Commission for review of a determination by a 

13 franchising authority to revoke a franchise under 

14 subsection (b)(2)(B). 

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

16 the determination de novo. 

17 ‘‘(3) ORDER.—If, based on the evidence pre18 sented during the review, the Commission deter19 mines that the franchising authority has not dem20 onstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that 

21 the franchising authority revoked the franchise in 

22 accordance with subsection (b)(2)(B), the Commis23 sion shall order the franchising authority to rein24 state the franchise.’’. 

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1 (b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE2 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica3 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE6 MENT IN FRANCHISE. 

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

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

9 elimination or modification of any requirement in the fran10 chise by submitting to the franchising authority a request 

11 for the elimination or modification of such requirement. 

12 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE13 MENT IN FRANCHISE.—The franchising authority shall 

14 eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a 

15 complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later 

16 than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable 

17 operator demonstrates in the request— 

18 ‘‘(1) good cause for the elimination or modifica19 tion of the requirement; and 

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

21 required by the franchise at the time the franchise 

22 was granted will be maintained after the elimination 

23 or modification of the requirement. 

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

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

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1 modification of a requirement for services relating to pub2 lic, educational, or governmental access, if the franchising 

3 authority fails to approve or deny the complete request 

4 submitted under subsection (a) by the date described 

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

6 eliminated or modified in accordance with the request on 

7 the day after such date. 

8 ‘‘(d) APPEAL.— 

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

10 request for elimination or modification of a require11 ment in a franchise under subsection (a) has been 

12 denied by a final decision of a franchising authority 

13 may obtain the elimination or modification of such 

14 franchise requirements pursuant to the provisions of 

15 section 635. 

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

17 proposed elimination or modification of a require18 ment in a franchise under subsection (a), the court 

19 shall grant such elimination or modification only if 

20 the cable operator demonstrates to the court— 

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

22 modification of the requirement; and 

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

24 services required by the franchise at the time 

25 the franchise was granted will be maintained 

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1 after the elimination or modification of the re2 quirement. 

3 ‘‘(e) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COMPLETE; RE4 CEIVED.— 

5 ‘‘(1) WHEN REQUEST CONSIDERED COM6 PLETE.— 

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

8 this section, a request to a franchising author9 ity shall be considered complete if the cable op10 erator has not received a written notice from 

11 the franchising authority within 10 business 

12 days after the date on which the request is re13 ceived by the franchising authority— 

14 ‘‘(i) stating that all the information 

15 (including any form or other document) re16 quired by the franchising authority to be 

17 submitted for the request to be considered 

18 complete has not been submitted; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) identifying the information re20 quired to be submitted that was not sub21 mitted. 

22 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

23 term ‘received by the franchising authority’ 

24 means— 

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

2 electronically, on the date on which the re3 quest is transmitted; 

4 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request sub5 mitted in person, on the date on which the 

6 request is delivered to the individual or at 

7 the location specified by the franchising 

8 authority for in-person submission; and 

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

11 determined under regulations promulgated 

12 by the Commission for the manner in 

13 which the request is submitted. 

14 ‘‘(2) WHEN COMPLETE REQUEST CONSIDERED

15 RECEIVED.—For the purposes of this section, a com16 plete request shall be considered received on the date 

17 on which the cable operator submits to the fran18 chising authority all information (including any form 

19 or other document) required by the franchising au20 thority to be submitted for the request to be consid21 ered complete.’’. 

22 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

24 is amended— 

25 (1) in section 601— 

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1 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi2 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

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

4 (C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

5 paragraph (5); 

6 (2) in section 602(9)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in9 cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 

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

11 (3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re12 quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 

13 franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 

14 (4) in section 612(b)(3)— 

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

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

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

18 thereof,’’; 

19 (5) in section 621(b)(3)— 

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

21 ‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re25 newal,’’; 

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1 (6) in section 624— 

2 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in3 cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 

4 to section 626)’’; and 

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

6 renewal thereof’’; 

7 (7) in section 627— 

8 (A) by striking subsection (a); 

9 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, as de10 scribed in section 626(b)(2)(B),’’ after ‘‘for 

11 cause’’; and 

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

13 and 

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

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 

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

17 amendments made by this section, shall take effect 

18 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. 

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

21 amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 

22 franchise granted— 

23 (A) on or after the effective date estab24 lished by paragraph (1); or 

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1 (B) before such date, if such franchise (in2 cluding, notwithstanding the amendment made 

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

4 in effect on such date. 

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