Senators Markey, Baldwin and Reps. Eshoo, DeFazio Reintroduce the Protecting Community TV Act

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and Representative Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04), chair of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, reintroduced the Protecting Community Television Act, legislation to ensure that community television operations continue to receive the resources they need to educate and inform viewers in the cities and towns where they operate.  The bill would address a 2019 decision by the FCC that allowed cable companies to assign a monetary value to commitments they made to benefit public, educational, and government (PEG) channels, also known as community television stations, as well as schools and public safety buildings, and deduct that amount from rent they pay for use of public property for their cable systems. The Protecting Community Television Act would amend federal law to make clear that cable companies are not permitted to use these commitments to reduce their franchise fee obligations.