PRIA Logo™
119-hr-5170119th CongressWALLET

CABLE Leadership Act

Sponsored By: Representative Balderson, Troy [R-OH-12]

Introduced

Summary

Imposes a 120-day federal deadline and a deemed grant for new cable franchise requests. This bill requires franchising authorities to approve or deny a complete request for a new franchise within 120 days or the request is deemed granted the day after that period ends.

Show full summary
  • Local franchising authorities must approve or deny complete new-franchise requests within 120 days and may not toll the deadline for moratoriums. Any denial must be in writing, supported by substantial evidence in a written record, and publicly released and provided to the requester the same day.
  • Applicants and broadband or cable providers gain faster certainty because a missed 120-day decision is treated as an automatic approval. The bill also spells out how and when requests are considered received for electronic submission, in-person delivery, or other methods.
  • The bill defines when a request is "complete" and sets a 30-day trigger for missing-information notices: if the authority does not send a timely written notice identifying missing information or a rule requiring it, the request becomes complete after the applicant's next procedural step. The 120-day clock applies to all proceedings the franchising authority requires to approve the request.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Faster decisions for new cable franchises

This bill would require local franchising authorities to approve or deny a complete request for a new (non‑renewal) cable franchise within 120 days. If they do not decide by day 120, the request would be treated as approved on day 121. The 120‑day clock would cover all required proceedings and could not be paused by any moratorium. A request would be complete only if you took the first required step and no written notice citing a rule and listing missing items arrived within 30 days. For timing, electronic filings would count from the send date and in‑person from delivery; if completeness is only deemed due to no notice, receipt would start the day after that 30‑day window. Any denial of a complete request would need to be written, backed by substantial evidence in a written record, and made public the same day.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Balderson, Troy [R-OH-12]

OH • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation