[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3287 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3287

 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising 
                   authority, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2023

Mr. Balderson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to preserve cable franchising 
                   authority, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cable Access for Broadband and Local 
Economic Leadership Act'' or the ``CABLE Leadership Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUEST FOR NEW FRANCHISE.

    Section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Timing of Decision on Request for Franchise.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
        on which a franchising authority receives a complete request 
        for the grant of a franchise (other than a renewal thereof), 
        the franchising authority shall approve or deny such request.
            ``(2) Deemed grant of new franchise.--If the franchising 
        authority does not approve or deny a request under paragraph 
        (1) by the day after the date on which the time period ends 
        under such paragraph, such request shall be deemed granted on 
        such day.
            ``(3) Applicability.--Notwithstanding any provision of this 
        title, the timeframe under paragraph (1) shall apply 
        collectively to all proceedings required by a franchising 
        authority for the approval of the request.
            ``(4) No tolling.--The timeframe under paragraph (1) may 
        not be tolled by any moratorium, whether express or de facto, 
        imposed by a franchising authority on the consideration of any 
        request for a franchise.
            ``(5) Written decision and record.--Any decision by a 
        franchising authority to deny a complete request for a 
        franchise shall be--
                    ``(A) in writing;
                    ``(B) supported by substantial evidence contained 
                in a written record; and
                    ``(C) publicly released, and provided to the 
                requesting party, on the same day such decision is 
                made.
            ``(6) When request considered complete; received.--
                    ``(A) When request considered complete.--
                            ``(i) In general.--For the purposes of this 
                        subsection, a request to a franchising 
                        authority shall be considered complete if the 
                        requesting party--
                                    ``(I) has taken the first 
                                procedural step within the control of 
                                the requesting party that the 
                                franchising authority requires as part 
                                of the process of the franchising 
                                authority for reviewing requests 
                                related to franchises; and
                                    ``(II) has not received a written 
                                notice from the franchising authority 
                                within 30 days after the date on which 
                                the request is received by the 
                                franchising authority--
                                            ``(aa) stating that all the 
                                        information (including any form 
                                        or other document) required by 
                                        the franchising authority to be 
                                        submitted for the request to be 
                                        considered complete, has not 
                                        been submitted;
                                            ``(bb) identifying the 
                                        information required to be 
                                        submitted that was not 
                                        submitted; and
                                            ``(cc) that includes a 
                                        citation to a specific 
                                        provision of a publicly 
                                        available rule, regulation, or 
                                        standard issued by the 
                                        franchising authority requiring 
                                        that the information be 
                                        submitted with such a request.
                            ``(ii) Definition.--In this subparagraph, 
                        the term `the date on which the request is 
                        received by the franchising authority' means--
                                    ``(I) in the case of a request 
                                submitted electronically, the date on 
                                which the request is transmitted;
                                    ``(II) in the case of a request 
                                submitted in person, the date on which 
                                the request is delivered to the 
                                individual or at the location specified 
                                by franchising authority for in-person 
                                submission; and
                                    ``(III) 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) When complete request considered received.--
                For the purposes of this subsection, a complete request 
                shall be considered received--
                            ``(i) except as provided in clause (ii), on 
                        the date on which the requesting party submits 
                        to the franchising authority all information 
                        (including any form or other document) required 
                        by the franchising authority to be submitted 
                        for the request to be considered complete; or
                            ``(ii) in the case of a request with 
                        respect to which all such information is not 
                        submitted and that is considered complete under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i) because the requesting 
                        party has not received a written notice from 
                        the franchising authority within the period 
                        described in such subparagraph, on the day 
                        after the last day of such period.''.
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