Protecting Community Television Act
This bill amends the Communications Act to clarify that "franchise fee" means only monetary assessments paid to local authorities for cable or community television services. It removes the word "includes" and adds "other monetary" before "assessment" in the definition. This technical change ensures franchise fees are strictly defined as cash payments, not other types of fees or non-monetary obligations. It directly affects cable operators and local governments that collect these fees under existing law. The bill makes no new policy changes but refines the legal definition for clarity.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jun 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Jun 9, 2025
Last action Jun 9, 2025
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Jun 9, 2025
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
upper
Jun 9, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 19 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Edward J. Markey
DDemocratic
Co
Alex Padilla
DDemocratic
Co
Amy Klobuchar
DDemocratic
Co
Angus S. King, Jr.
IIndependent
Co
Bernard Sanders
IIndependent
Co
Brian Schatz
DDemocratic
Co
Charles E. Schumer
DDemocratic
Co
Chris Van Hollen
DDemocratic
Co
Christopher Murphy
DDemocratic
Co
Cory A. Booker
DDemocratic
Co
Elizabeth Warren
DDemocratic
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