Community Broadband Act of 2007

A bill to promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes.

4/22/2008--Reported to Senate amended. Community Broadband Act of 2007 - Prohibits any state or local government statute, regulation, or other legal requirement from having the effect of prohibiting any public provider from providing advanced telecommunications capability, or related services, to any person or any public or private entity. Defines "public provider" as a state or a political subdivision or instrumentality thereof, an Indian tribe, or any entity owned, controlled, or otherwise affiliated with a state, subdivision, instrumentality, or tribe. Requires any public provider that regulates competing providers of advanced telecommunications capability or services to apply its ordinances, rules, and policies without discrimination in favor of itself or any other provider it owns or is affiliated with. Requires a public provider, before it provides advanced telecommunications capability or services, to publish notice, provide local citizens and private-sector entities with an opportunity to be heard, identify any special capabilities or services to be provided in low-income areas or other demographically or geographically defined areas, and provide private-sector entities an opportunity to bid to provide the capability or services. Declares that the provisions of the two paragraphs immediately above do not apply when:
(1) a public provider provides such capabilities or services other than to the public or to such classes of users as to be effectively available to the public; or
(2) a state of emergency has been declared by the President, that state's governor, or any other elected local official authorized by law to declare a state of emergency. Prohibits the use of federal funds to assist a public provider in reviving or renewing an advanced telecommunications project that fails due to bankruptcy (unless in a presidentially-declared major disaster area) or is terminated by a public provider.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
• and 8 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]
  • Sen. Daniel Inouye [D, HI]
  • Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
  • Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
  • Gordon Smith
  • Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
  • Ted Stevens
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Committees

• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.1853

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
July 23, 2007

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All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on Apr 22, 2008: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 707..
• Apr 22, 2008: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Inouye with amendments. With written report No. 110-330.
• Oct 30, 2007: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Date of scheduled consideration. SR-253. 2:30 p.m.
• Added to calendar on Oct 30, 2007: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably..
• Oct 30, 2007: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
• Introduced on Jul 23, 2007.
• Jul 23, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9778-9779)
• Jul 23, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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Related Bills:

• H.R.3281

Related Issue Areas:

• Telecommunication
• Broadband
• Federal preemption
• Government information
• 6 more
• Government publicity
• Internet
• Local laws
• State and local government
• State laws
• Technology

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In the News

November 10, 2007 Congress steps up on broadband access

Both houses of Congress just passed legislation, the Community Broadband Act of 2007 (S. 1853), which allows municipalities to help fill the void in ...

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Source: Rocky Mountain News, CO

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October 31, 2007 Tech Bills Advance in Congress

In the Senate, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed the Community Broadband Act of 2007 (S.1853) that would keep state or local ...

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Source: eWeek,  NY

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Blog Coverage

September 14, 2008 110th Congress Compare and Contrast.

S.1853: A bill to promote competition, to preserve the ability of local governments to provide broadband capability and services, and for other purposes. (7 original co-sponsors) S.2087 : A bill to amend certain laws relating to Native ...

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Source: PoliticalGroove Forums

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August 06, 2008 New government documents at Milner, July 2008 « Government Documents

Call No: Y 1.1/5:110-330, Title: Community Broadband Act of 2007 : report of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on S. 1853. Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. ...

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Source: Government Documents

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July 05, 2008 Getting to the 'Core' of Metro Broadband Wireless

S. 1853: Community Broadband Act of 2007 HR 2738: Family and Consumer Choice Act of 2007. This legislation has a direct bearing, and should be combined, with the addition of language representative of all levels of government and the ...

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Source: TPR: The Public Record | In-Depth, Incisive,...

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