I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2785 
To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect 
the ability of State and local governments and public-private partnerships 
to provide broadband services. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2019 
Ms. ESHOO (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Ms. 
PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve 
and protect the ability of State and local governments 
and public-private partnerships to provide broadband 
services. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Broadband 
Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. STATE, LOCAL, AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP 
BROADBAND SERVICES. 
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 
(47 U.S.C. 1302) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) STATE, LOCAL, AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PART-
NERSHIP ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITY 
AND SERVICES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No State statute, regula-
tion, or other State legal requirement may prohibit 
or have the effect of prohibiting any public provider 
or public-private partnership provider from pro-
viding, to any person or any public or private entity, 
advanced telecommunications capability or any serv-
ice that utilizes the advanced telecommunications ca-
pability provided by such provider. 
‘‘(2) ANTIDISCRIMINATION SAFEGUARDS.— 
‘‘(A) PUBLIC PROVIDERS.—To the extent 
any public provider regulates competing private 
providers of advanced telecommunications capa-
bility or services that utilize advanced tele-
communications capability, such public provider 
shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis-
crimination in favor of itself or any provider 
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that it owns of services that utilize advanced 
telecommunications capability. 
‘‘(B) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PRO-
VIDERS.—To the extent any State or local enti-
ty that is part of a public-private partnership 
provider regulates competing private providers 
of advanced telecommunications capability or 
services that utilize advanced telecommuni-
cations capability, such State or local entity 
shall apply its ordinances and rules without dis-
crimination in favor of such public-private part-
nership provider or any provider that such 
State or local entity or public-private partner-
ship provider owns of services that utilize ad-
vanced telecommunications capability. 
‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall exempt a public provider or public-pri-
vate partnership provider from any Federal or State 
telecommunications law or regulation that applies to 
all providers of advanced telecommunications capa-
bility or services that utilize such advanced tele-
communications capability.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (e), as redesignated— 
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(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting 
‘‘this section’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC PROVIDER.—The term ‘public pro-
vider’ means a State or local entity that provides ad-
vanced telecommunications capability, or any service 
that utilizes such advanced telecommunications ca-
pability, to any person or public or private entity. 
‘‘(4) 
PUBLIC-PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIP
PRO-
VIDER.—The term ‘public-private partnership pro-
vider’ means a public-private partnership, between a 
State or local entity and a private entity, that pro-
vides advanced telecommunications capability, or any 
service that utilizes such advanced telecommuni-
cations capability, to any person or public or private 
entity. 
‘‘(5) STATE
OR
LOCAL
ENTITY.—The term 
‘State or local entity’ means a State or political sub-
division thereof, any agency, authority, or instru-
mentality of a State or political subdivision thereof, 
or an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4(e) of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e))).’’. 
Æ 
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