[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1294 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1294

To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect the 
   ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and 
                               services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2005

 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. McCain) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to preserve and protect the 
   ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and 
                               services.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Broadband Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. COMMUNITY BROADBAND CAPABILITY AND SERVICES.

    Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. 157 
note) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d) and 
        inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Local Government Provision of Advanced Telecommunications 
Capability and Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--No State statute, regulation, or other 
        State legal requirement may prohibit or have the effect of 
        prohibiting any public provider from providing, to any person 
        or any public or private entity, advanced telecommunications 
        capability or any service that utilizes the advanced 
        telecommunications capability provided by such provider.
            ``(2) Antidiscrimination safeguards.--To the extent any 
        public provider regulates competing private providers of 
        advanced telecommunications capability or services, it shall 
        apply its ordinances and rules without discrimination in favor 
        of itself or any advanced telecommunications services provider 
        that it owns.
            ``(3) Savings clause.--Nothing in this section shall exempt 
        a public provider from any Federal or State telecommunications 
        law or regulation that applies to all providers of advanced 
        telecommunications capability or services using such advanced 
        telecommunications capability.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end of subsection (d), as 
        redesignated, the following:
            ``(3) Public provider.--The term `public provider' means a 
        State or political subdivision thereof, any agency, authority, 
        or instrumentality 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. 
        450b(e)), that provides advanced telecommunications capability, 
        or any service that utilizes such advanced telecommunications 
        capability, to any person or public or private entity.''.
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