I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5290 
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to amend provisions relating 
to franchise term and termination and provisions relating to the elimi-
nation or modification of requirements in franchises, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2025 
Mr. WEBER of Texas 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 provi-
sions relating to franchise term and termination and 
provisions relating to the elimination or modification of 
requirements in franchises, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Cable Transparency 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CABLE FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 
(a) ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIRE-
MENT IN FRANCHISE.—Section 625 of the Communica-
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fied by the franchising authority for in-person 
submission; and 
‘‘(C) in the case of a request submitted in 
any other manner, the date determined under 
regulations promulgated by the Commission for 
the manner in which the request is submitted.’’. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—Section 626 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 546) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 626. FRANCHISE TERM AND TERMINATION. 
‘‘(a) FRANCHISE TERM.—A franchise shall continue 
in effect (without any requirement for renewal) until the 
date on which the franchise is revoked or terminated in 
accordance with subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) LIMITS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION AGAINST REVOCATION; TER-
MINATION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
franchise may not be— 
‘‘(A) revoked by a franchising authority; 
‘‘(B) terminated by a cable operator; or 
‘‘(C) revoked or terminated by operation of 
law, including by a term in a franchise that re-
vokes or terminates such franchise on a specific 
date, after a period of time, or upon the occur-
rence of an event. 
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‘‘(2) WHEN TERMINATION OR REVOCATION OF 
FRANCHISE PERMITTED.— 
‘‘(A) TERMINATION
BY
CABLE
OPER-
ATOR.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A cable operator 
may terminate a franchise by submitting 
to the franchising authority a written re-
quest for the franchising authority to re-
voke such franchise. 
‘‘(ii) TIME
OF
REVOCATION.—If the 
cable operator submits a complete request 
under clause (i), the franchising authority 
shall revoke the franchise on the date that 
is 90 days after the franchising authority 
receives such request. 
‘‘(iii) DEEMED TO BE REVOKED.—If a 
franchising authority does not approve a 
request by the date required under clause 
(ii), the franchise is deemed revoked on the 
day after such date. 
‘‘(B) TERMINATION BY FRANCHISING AU-
THORITY.—A franchising authority may revoke 
a franchise if the franchising authority— 
‘‘(i) finds that the cable operator has 
knowingly and willfully failed to substan-
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tially meet a material requirement imposed 
by the franchise; 
‘‘(ii) provides the cable operator a rea-
sonable opportunity to cure such failure, 
after which the cable operator fails to cure 
such failure; and 
‘‘(iii) does not waive the material re-
quirement or acquiesce with the failure to 
substantially meet such requirement. 
‘‘(c) REVIEW OF REVOCATION OF FRANCHISE BY 
FRANCHISING AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE OR JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 
With respect to a determination by a franchising au-
thority to revoke a franchise under subsection 
(b)(2)(B), a cable operator may— 
‘‘(A) petition the Commission for review of 
such determination; or 
‘‘(B) seek judicial review of such deter-
mination pursuant to the provisions of 635. 
‘‘(2) COMMISSION REVIEW.—With respect to a 
petition for the review of a determination brought 
under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) review the determination de novo; and 
‘‘(B) invalidate the determination if, based 
on the evidence presented during the review, the 
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Commission determines that the franchising au-
thority has not demonstrated by a preponder-
ance of the evidence that the franchising au-
thority revoked the franchise in accordance with 
subsection (b)(2)(B). 
‘‘(3) STAY
OF
DETERMINATION
TO
REVOKE 
FRANCHISE.—A revocation of a franchise under sub-
section (b)(2)(B) may be stayed— 
‘‘(A) in the case the cable operator peti-
tions the Commission for review of the deter-
mination on which such revocation is based, by 
the Commission; and 
‘‘(B) in the case the cable operator seeks 
judicial review of the determination on which 
such revocation is based, by the court in which 
the cable operator seeks judicial review of the 
determination.’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
The Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 
is amended— 
(1) in section 601— 
(A) in paragraph (4), by striking the semi-
colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (5); and 
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(C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 
paragraph (5); 
(2) in section 602(9)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, or renewal thereof (in-
cluding a renewal of an authorization which has 
been granted subject to section 626),’’; 
(3) in section 611(b), by striking ‘‘and may re-
quire as part of a cable operator’s proposal for a 
franchise renewal, subject to section 626’’; 
(4) in section 612(b)(3)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or as part of a proposal 
for renewal, subject to section 626,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, or proposal for renewal 
thereof,’’; 
(5) in section 621(b)(3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking 
‘‘or franchise renewal’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (D)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘initial’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘, a franchise re-
newal,’’; 
(6) in section 624— 
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(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘(in-
cluding requests for renewal proposals, subject 
to section 626)’’; and 
(B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘or 
renewal thereof’’; and 
(7) in section 635A(a), by striking ‘‘renewal,’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the 
amendments made by this section, shall take effect 
6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) 
APPLICATION.—This 
section, 
and 
the 
amendments made by this section, shall apply to a 
franchise granted— 
(A) on or after the effective date estab-
lished by paragraph (1); or 
(B) before such date, if— 
(i) such franchise (including, any re-
newal thereof before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act) is in effect on such date; 
or 
(ii) such franchise is expired and the 
cable operator has continued to perform 
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under the provisions of such franchise as if 
such franchise were not expired. 
Æ 
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