Bill Text: TX HB256 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Relating to state-issued certificates of franchise authority to provide cable service and video service.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-11 - Laid on the table subject to call [HB256 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB256-Comm_Sub.html
  82R20598 JXC-F
 
  By: Hilderbran H.B. No. 256
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 256:
 
  By:  Cook C.S.H.B. No. 256
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to state-issued certificates of franchise authority to
  provide cable service and video service.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 66.003(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  An entity or person seeking to provide cable service or
  video service in this state [after September 1, 2005,] shall file an
  application for a state-issued certificate of franchise authority
  with the commission as required by this section.  An entity
  providing cable service or video service under a franchise
  agreement with a municipality is not subject to this subsection
  with respect to such municipality until the franchise agreement is
  terminated under Section 66.004 or until the franchise agreement
  expires[, except as provided by Section 66.004].
         SECTION 2.  Section 66.004, Utilities Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (c), and (f) and adding Subsection (b-1)
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A cable service provider or a video service provider
  that currently has or had previously received a franchise to
  provide cable service or video service with respect to a
  municipality may [such municipalities is not eligible to] seek a
  state-issued certificate of franchise authority to provide service
  to the municipality under this section [chapter as to those
  municipalities until the expiration date of the existing franchise
  agreement, except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c)].
         (b-1)  Beginning September 1, 2011, a cable service provider
  or video service provider that was not allowed to or did not
  terminate a municipal franchise under Subsection (b) may elect to
  terminate all unexpired municipal franchises and seek a
  state-issued certificate of franchise authority for each area
  served under a terminated municipal franchise by providing written
  notice to the commission and each affected municipality before
  January 1, 2012.  A municipal franchise is terminated on the date
  the commission issues a state-issued certificate of franchise
  authority to the provider for the area served under that terminated
  franchise.
         (c)  A cable service provider [that serves fewer than 40
  percent of the total cable customers in a municipal franchise area
  and] that elects under Subsection (b) or (b-1) to terminate an
  existing municipal franchise is responsible for remitting to the
  affected municipality before the 91st day after the date the
  municipal franchise is terminated any accrued but unpaid franchise
  fees due under the terminated franchise.  If the cable service
  provider has credit remaining from prepaid franchise fees, the
  provider may deduct the amount of the remaining credit from any
  future fees or taxes it must pay to the municipality, either
  directly or through the comptroller.
         (f)  Except as provided in this chapter, nothing in this
  chapter is intended to abrogate, nullify, or adversely affect in
  any way the contractual rights, duties, and obligations existing
  and incurred by a cable service provider or a video service provider
  before the date a franchise expires or the date a provider
  terminates a franchise under Subsection (b-1), as applicable, 
  [enactment of this chapter,] and owed or owing to any private
  person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity including
  without limitation those obligations measured by and related to the
  gross revenue hereafter received by the holder of a state-issued
  certificate of franchise authority for services provided in the
  geographic area to which such prior franchise or permit applies.  
  All liens, security interests, royalties, and other contracts,
  rights, and interests in effect on September 1, 2005, or the date a
  franchise is terminated under Subsection (b-1) shall continue in
  full force and effect, without the necessity for renewal,
  extension, or continuance, and shall be paid and performed by the
  holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise authority, and
  shall apply as though the revenue generated by the holder of a
  state-issued certificate of franchise authority continued to be
  generated pursuant to the permit or franchise issued by the prior
  local franchising authority or municipality within the geographic
  area to which the prior permit or franchise applies.  It shall be a
  condition to the issuance and continuance of a state-issued
  certificate of franchise authority that the private contractual
  rights and obligations herein described continue to be honored,
  paid, or performed to the same extent as though the cable service
  provider continued to operate under its prior franchise or permit,
  for the duration of such state-issued certificate of franchise
  authority and any renewals or extensions thereof, and that the
  applicant so agrees.  Any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
  or other entity holding or claiming rights herein reserved may
  enforce same by an action brought in a court of competent
  jurisdiction.
         SECTION 3.  Section 66.005(b), Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The franchise fee payable under this section is to be
  paid quarterly, within 45 days after the end of the quarter for the
  preceding calendar quarter.  Each payment shall be accompanied by a
  summary explaining the basis for the calculation of the fee.  A
  municipality may review the business records of the cable service
  provider or video service provider to the extent necessary to
  ensure compensation in accordance with Subsection (a), provided
  that the municipality may only review records that relate to the
  48-month period preceding the date of the last franchise fee
  payment.  Each party shall bear the party's own costs of the
  examination.  A municipality may, in the event of a dispute
  concerning compensation under this section, bring an action in a
  court of competent jurisdiction.
         SECTION 4.  Section 66.006, Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 66.006.  IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS TO MUNICIPALITY.  (a)  
  Until the expiration or termination of the incumbent cable service
  provider's agreement, the holder of a state-issued certificate of
  franchise authority shall pay a municipality in which it is
  offering cable service or video service the same cash payments on a
  per subscriber basis as required by the incumbent cable service
  provider's franchise agreement.  All cable service providers and
  all video service providers shall report quarterly to the
  municipality the total number of subscribers served within the
  municipality.  The amount paid by the holder of a state-issued
  certificate of franchise authority shall be calculated quarterly by
  the municipality by multiplying the amount of cash payment under
  the incumbent cable service provider's franchise agreement by a
  number derived by dividing the number of subscribers served by a
  video service provider or cable service provider by the total
  number of video or cable service subscribers in the municipality.  
  Such pro rata payments are to be paid quarterly to the municipality
  within 45 days after the end of the quarter for the preceding
  calendar quarter.
         (b)  On the expiration or termination of the incumbent cable
  service provider's agreement, the holder of a state-issued
  certificate of franchise authority shall pay a municipality in
  which it is offering cable service or video service one percent of
  the provider's gross revenues, as defined by this chapter, or at the
  municipality's election, the per subscriber fee that was paid to
  the municipality under the expired or terminated incumbent cable
  service provider's agreement, in lieu of in-kind compensation and
  grants.  Payments under this subsection shall be paid in the same
  manner as outlined in Section 66.005(b).
         (c)  All fees paid to municipalities under this section are
  paid in accordance with 47 U.S.C. Sections 531 and 541(a)(4)(B) and
  may be used by the municipality as allowed by federal law.
         (c-1)  The holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise
  authority shall include with a fee paid to a municipality under this
  section a statement identifying the fee.
         (c-2)  If a municipality uses fees paid to the municipality
  under this section for a purpose described by 47 U.S.C. Section
  542(g)(2)(C), the fees[; further, these payments] are not
  chargeable as a credit against the franchise fee payments
  authorized under this chapter. If the municipality uses the fees
  for another purpose, the fees are chargeable as a credit against the
  franchise fee payments authorized under this chapter.
         (c-3)  A municipality that receives fees under this section:
               (1)  shall maintain revenue from the fees in a separate
  account established for that purpose;
               (2)  may not commingle revenue from the fees with any
  other money;
               (3)  shall maintain a record of each deposit to and
  disbursement from the separate account, including a record of the
  payee and purpose of each disbursement; and
               (4)  not later than January 31 of each year, shall
  provide to each certificate holder that pays a fee to the
  municipality under this section, on the request of that certificate
  holder, a detailed accounting of the deposits to and disbursements
  from the separate account made in the preceding calendar year.
         (d)  Cable services to community public buildings, such as
  municipal buildings and public schools, [The following services]
  shall continue to be provided by the cable provider that was
  furnishing services pursuant to its municipal cable franchise
  [until January 1, 2008, or] until the expiration or termination
  [term] of the franchise.  For a municipality with a population of
  more than one million, [was to expire, whichever is later, and
  thereafter as provided in Subdivisions (1) and (2) below:
               [(1)]  institutional network capacity, however defined
  or referred to in the municipal cable franchise but generally
  referring to a private line data network capacity for use by the
  municipality for noncommercial purposes, shall continue to be
  provided at the same capacity as was provided by the cable provider
  that was furnishing services pursuant to its municipal cable
  franchise until the expiration or termination of the franchise
  agreement, whichever is later [to the municipality prior to the
  date of the termination, provided that the municipality will
  compensate the provider for the actual incremental cost of the
  capacity; and
               [(2)     cable services to community public buildings,
  such as municipal buildings and public schools, shall continue to
  be provided to the same extent provided immediately prior to the
  date of the termination].  On [Beginning on January 1, 2008, or] the
  expiration or termination of the franchise agreement, [whichever is
  later,] a provider that provides cable [the] services described by
  this section may deduct from the franchise fee to be paid to the
  municipality an amount equal to the actual incremental cost of the
  cable services if the municipality requires cable [the] services
  after that date.  Such cable service generally refers to the
  existing cable drop connections to such facilities and the tier of
  cable service provided pursuant to the franchise at the time of the
  expiration or termination.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 66.009(c) and (h), Utilities Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  If a municipality did not have the maximum number of PEG
  access channels as of September 1, 2005, as provided by
  Subdivisions (1) and (2) based on the municipality's population on
  that date, the cable service provider or video service provider
  shall furnish at the request of the municipality:
               (1)  up to three PEG channels for a municipality with a
  population of at least 50,000; and
               (2)  up to two PEG channels for a municipality with a
  population of less than 50,000.
         (h)  Where technically feasible, the holder of a
  state-issued certificate of franchise authority that is not an
  incumbent cable service provider and an incumbent cable service
  provider, including an incumbent cable service provider that holds
  a state-issued certificate of franchise authority issued under
  Section 66.004(b-1), shall use reasonable efforts to interconnect
  their cable or video systems for the purpose of providing PEG
  programming.  Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable,
  microwave link, satellite, or other reasonable method of
  connection.  The holder [Holders] of a state-issued certificate of
  franchise authority and the incumbent cable service provider 
  [providers] shall negotiate in good faith, and the incumbent cable
  service provider [providers] may not withhold interconnection of
  PEG channels.
         SECTION 6.  (a)  A municipality that received fees described
  by Section 66.006(c), Utilities Code, as amended by this Act,
  before September 1, 2011, shall, on September 1, 2011, transfer any
  fees that have not been disbursed to a separate account as required
  by Section 66.006(c-3), Utilities Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  The change in law made by this Act in adding Sections
  66.006(c-3)(3) and (4), Utilities Code, applies only to transfers,
  deposits, and disbursements made on or after the effective date of
  this Act.  A transfer, deposit, or disbursement made before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the transfer, deposit, or disbursement was made, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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