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Protecting Community Television Act
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the definition of franchise fee, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the definition of "franchise fee" that cable television operators pay to local governments. The bill changes the definition language from "includes" to "means" and adds "other monetary" before "assessment" in the definition. These are technical changes to how franchise fees, the payments cable operators make to communities for the right to operate, are defined under federal law. The bill relates to how much cable companies are required to pay communities for providing cable television service.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
7 cosponsors
- Rep. Balint, Becca [D-VT-At Large] (D-VT)
- Rep. Case, Ed [D-HI-1] (D-HI)
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA)
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] (D-CA)
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA)
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI)
- Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15] (D-NY)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Troy A. Carter’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $30,950
- OCHSNER HEALTH $19,350
- RIVER BIRCH, LLC $13,200
- AKD LAW $10,800
- CENTRAL MANAGEMENT $10,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Troy A. Carter → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jun 6, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Jun 6, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 6, 2025
Mr. Carter of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the definition of franchise fee, 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 “Protecting Community Television Act”.
SEC. 2. MODIFYING THE DEFINITION OF FRANCHISE FEE.
Section 622(g)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 542(g)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking “includes” and inserting “means”; and
(2) by inserting “other monetary” before “assessment”. <all>
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