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S. 2989: Franchise Reform Act of 2006

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S. 2989: Franchise Reform Act of 2006

109th Congress · introduced 2006-05-23 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2006-05-23 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Franchise Reform Act of 2006

Plain summary

Franchise Reform Act of 2006 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to designate the State Commission of each state as the franchising authority for any state-issued franchise for the provision of cable or video service in that state. Outlines application requirements for any entity or person seeking to obtain a state-issued certificate of franchise authority. Exempts existing franchises from such application requirements. Requires the holder of a state-issued certificate to pay each municipality in which the holder provides cable or video service a franchise fee of five percent of the gross revenues of such holder. Requires certificate holders to: (1) comply with applicable customer service standards until there are two or more providers offering service in a municipality; (2) provide municipalities, upon request, with capacity to allow public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access channels for noncommercial programming (with a required minimum number of such channels); and (3) provide for the interconnection of cable and video systems within a municipality for the purpose of providing PEG programming. Requires local municipalities to allow certificate holders to install, construct, and maintain necessary communications networks within public rights-of-way. Prohibits certificate holders from denying access to cable or video service to any group of residential subscribers because of the income of the residents in the local area.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Franchise Reform Act of 2006

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong109-s2989 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong109 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong109