Cable Transparency Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5290 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 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 elimination or modification of requirements in franchises, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ 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 provisions 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 Representatives 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 Requirement in Franchise.-- Section 625 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 545) is amended to read as follows: ``SEC. 625. ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT IN FRANCHISE. ``(a) In General.--During the period in which a franchise is in effect, the cable operator may obtain the elimination or modification of any requirement in the franchise by submitting to the franchising authority a request for the elimination or modification of such requirement. ``(b) Elimination or Modification of Requirement in Franchise.-- ``(1) Requirement.--The franchising authority shall eliminate or modify a requirement in accordance with a complete request submitted under subsection (a) not later than 120 days after receiving such request if the cable operator demonstrates in the request-- ``(A) good cause for th