H.R. 5170

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5170 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5170

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

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 8, 2025

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.

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 ``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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