H.R. 4635: Orphan County Telecommunications Rights Act of 2014

113th Congress · introduced 2014-05-09 · Science, Technology, Communications · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2014-05-09 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Aderholt, Robert B. [R-AL-4] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
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

Orphan County Telecommunications Rights Act of 2014

Plain summary

Orphan County Telecommunications Rights Act of 2014 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to permit an adjacent underserved county of a television broadcast station to file a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be included in the local market of such station. Defines "adjacent underserved county" as a county within a television broadcast station's adjacent market that is: (1) located in the same state as the station's community of license, and (2) not within the local market of any other station that is affiliated with the same television network and located in the same state. Defines "adjacent market" as any designated market area adjacent to, and partially but not entirely in the same state as, the designated market area in which the station's community of license is located. Requires a county that is not within the local or adjacent market of any network station licensed to a community in the county's state to be considered within the adjacent market of any station licensed to a community in the nearest designated market area: (1) that is located in whole or in part within such state, and (2) with respect to which the community of license of at least one network station is located both in such designated market area and in such state. Allows the FCC to determine that a particular county is part of the local market of more than one television broadcast station affiliated with the same television network. Prohibits a multichannel video programming distributor, during the pendency of a proceeding on a county's petition for inclusion in the local market of a television broadcast station, from deleting the signal of a station that: (1) is affiliated with the same television network, and (2) has a local market that includes such county. Directs the FCC, if the local market of a television broadcast station is modified to include a petitioning county, to include within the television market of such station all of the communities within such county for purposes of carriage obligation requirements under which cable operators carry the signals of local commercial television stations. Requires the FCC's modification of a station's local market under this Act to also result in a modification of such marketfor purposes of statutory licensing requirements that apply to secondary transmissions of local television programming by satellite.

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

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

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Orphan County Telecommunications Rights Act of 2014

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Aderholt, Robert B. [R-AL-4] · 5 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Adrian Smith (R-NE)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Aderholt, Robert B. [R-AL-4] reported raising $1.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

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.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113hr4635.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/hr>

Record fed-us-cong113-hr4635 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113