CABLE Leadership Act

This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to set a 120-day deadline for local franchising authorities to approve or deny new cable franchise requests, with automatic approval if no decision is made, and establishes rules for when a request is considered complete and how denials must be handled.

Sec. 2, Request for new franchise: A franchising authority must approve or deny a complete new franchise request within 120 days. If it fails to do so, the request is automatically granted. This timeframe applies to all required proceedings and cannot be delayed by any moratorium. Any denial must be in writing, supported by substantial evidence in a written record, and publicly released the same day. A request is considered complete if the applicant has taken the first required procedural step and has not received a written notice within 30 days listing missing information and citing a specific rule. The date of receipt is defined for electronic, in-person, and other submissions. A complete request is considered received when all required information is submitted, or, if no deficiency notice was sent, the day after the 30-day period ends.