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90_SB0999enr
55 ILCS 5/5-1095 from Ch. 34, par. 5-1095
65 ILCS 5/11-42-11 from Ch. 24, par. 11-42-11
Amends the Counties Code and the Illinois Municipal Code.
Provides that when deciding whether to grant an additional
cable television franchise, the franchising authority shall
consider the statutory factors and consider and evaluate the
terms and conditions of the existing franchise and the terms
and conditions of the proposed franchise. Provides that if
it is determined to be in the best interest to grant the
additional franchise, the franchising authority must make a
written finding that the terms and conditions of the proposed
franchise are no more favorable or less burdensome than the
terms and conditions of the existing franchise and grant the
franchise. Provides the decision as to whether the terms and
conditions are equivalent rests solely with the franchising
authority. Provides that counties and municipalities are not
subject to suit for damages based upon the decision to grant
or refusal to grant additional franchise. Effective
immediately.
LRB9001711DNsb
SB999 Enrolled LRB9001711DNsb
1 AN ACT concerning community antenna television systems,
2 amending named Acts.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
6 Section 5-1095 as follows:
7 (55 ILCS 5/5-1095) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-1095)
8 Sec. 5-1095. Community antenna television systems;
9 satellite transmitted television programming.
10 (a) The County Board may license, tax or franchise the
11 business of operating a community antenna television system
12 or systems within the County and outside of a municipality,
13 as defined in Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
14 When an area is annexed to a municipality, the annexing
15 municipality shall thereby become the franchising authority
16 with respect to that portion of any community antenna
17 television system that, immediately before annexation, had
18 provided cable television services within the annexed area
19 under a franchise granted by the county, and the owner of
20 that community antenna television system shall thereby be
21 authorized to provide cable television services within the
22 annexed area under the terms and provisions of the existing
23 franchise. In that instance, the franchise shall remain in
24 effect until, by its terms, it expires, except that any
25 franchise fees payable under the franchise shall be payable
26 only to the county for a period of 5 years or until, by its
27 terms, the franchise expires, whichever occurs first. After
28 the 5 year period, any franchise fees payable under the
29 franchise shall be paid to the annexing municipality. In any
30 instance in which a duly franchised community antenna
31 television system is providing cable television services
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1 within the annexing municipality at the time of annexation,
2 the annexing municipality may permit that franchisee to
3 extend its community antenna television system to the annexed
4 area under terms and conditions that are no more burdensome
5 nor less favorable to that franchisee than those imposed
6 under any community antenna television franchise applicable
7 to the annexed area at the time of annexation. The
8 authorization to extend cable television service to the
9 annexed area and any community antenna television system
10 authorized to provide cable television services within the
11 annexed area at the time of annexation shall not be subject
12 to the provisions of subsection (e) of this Section.
13 (b) "Community antenna television system" as used in
14 this Section, means any facility which is constructed in
15 whole or in part in, on, under or over any highway or other
16 public place and which is operated to perform for hire the
17 service of receiving and amplifying the signals broadcast by
18 one or more television stations and redistributing such
19 signals by wire, cable or other means to members of the
20 public who subscribe to such service except that such term
21 does not include (i) any system which serves fewer than 50
22 subscribers or (ii) any system which serves only the
23 residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common
24 ownership, control or management, and commercial
25 establishments located on the premises of such dwellings.
26 (c) The authority hereby granted does not include the
27 authority to license or franchise telephone companies subject
28 to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission or
29 the Federal Communications Commission in connection with
30 furnishing circuits, wires, cables or other facilities to the
31 operator of a community antenna television system.
32 The County Board may, in the course of franchising such
33 community antenna television system, grant to such franchisee
34 the authority and the right and permission to use all public
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1 streets, rights of way, alleys, ways for public service
2 facilities, parks, playgrounds, school grounds, or other
3 public grounds, in which such county may have an interest,
4 for the construction, installation, operation, maintenance,
5 alteration, addition, extension or improvement of a community
6 antenna television system.
7 Any charge imposed by a community antenna television
8 system franchised pursuant to this Section for the raising or
9 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from a
10 street shall not exceed the reasonable costs of work
11 reasonably necessary to safely permit such passage. Pursuant
12 to subsections (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
13 Constitution of the State of Illinois, the General Assembly
14 declares the regulation of charges which may be imposed by
15 community antenna television systems for the raising or
16 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from
17 streets is a power or function to be exercised exclusively by
18 the State and not to be exercised or performed concurrently
19 with the State by any unit of local government, including any
20 home rule unit.
21 The County Board may, upon written request by the
22 franchisee of a community antenna television system, exercise
23 its right of eminent domain solely for the purpose of
24 granting an easement right no greater than 8 feet in width,
25 extending no greater than 8 feet from any lot line for the
26 purpose of extending cable across any parcel of property in
27 the manner provided for by the law of eminent domain,
28 provided, however, such franchisee deposits with the county
29 sufficient security to pay all costs incurred by the county
30 in the exercise of its right of eminent domain.
31 Except as specifically provided otherwise in this
32 Section, this Section is not a limitation on any home rule
33 county.
34 (d) The General Assembly finds and declares that
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1 satellite-transmitted television programming should be
2 available to those who desire to subscribe to such
3 programming and that decoding devices should be obtainable at
4 reasonable prices by those who are unable to obtain
5 satellite-transmitted television programming through duly
6 franchised community antenna television systems.
7 In any instance in which a person is unable to obtain
8 satellite-transmitted television programming through a duly
9 franchised community antenna television system either because
10 the municipality and county in which such person resides has
11 not granted a franchise to operate and maintain a community
12 antenna television system, or because the duly franchised
13 community antenna television system operator does not make
14 cable television services available to such person, any
15 programming company that delivers satellite-transmitted
16 television programming in scrambled or encrypted form shall
17 ensure that devices for decryption of such programming are
18 made available to such person, through the local community
19 antenna television operator or directly, for purchase or
20 lease at prices reasonably related to the cost of manufacture
21 and distribution of such devices.
22 (e) The General Assembly finds and declares that, in
23 order to ensure that community antenna television services
24 are provided in an orderly, competitive and economically
25 sound manner, the best interests of the public will be served
26 by the establishment of certain minimum standards and
27 procedures for the granting of additional cable television
28 franchises.
29 Subject to the provisions of this subsection, the
30 authority granted under subsection (a) hereof shall include
31 the authority to license, franchise and tax more than one
32 cable operator to provide community antenna television
33 services within the territorial limits of a single
34 franchising authority. For purposes of this subsection (e),
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1 the term:
2 (i) "Existing cable television franchise" means a
3 community antenna television franchise granted by a
4 county which is in use at the time such county receives
5 an application or request by another cable operator for a
6 franchise to provide cable antenna television services
7 within all or any portion of the territorial area which
8 is or may be served under the existing cable television
9 franchise.
10 (ii) "Additional cable television franchise" means
11 a franchise pursuant to which community antenna
12 television services may be provided within the
13 territorial areas, or any portion thereof, which may be
14 served under an existing cable television franchise.
15 (iii) "Franchising Authority" is defined as that
16 term is defined under Section 602(9) of the Cable
17 Communications Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
18 (iv) "Cable operator" is defined as that term is
19 defined under Section 602(4) of the Cable Communications
20 Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
21 Before granting an additional cable television franchise,
22 the franchising authority shall:
23 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of
24 any other community antenna television system franchised
25 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be
26 served by such additional cable television franchise,
27 identifying the applicant for such additional franchise
28 and specifying the date, time and place at which the
29 franchising authority shall conduct public hearings to
30 consider and determine whether such additional cable
31 television franchise should be granted.
32 (2) Conduct a public hearing to determine the
33 public need for such additional cable television
34 franchise, the capacity of public rights-of-way to
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1 accommodate such additional community antenna television
2 services, the potential disruption to existing users of
3 public rights-of-way to be used by such additional
4 franchise applicant to complete construction and to
5 provide cable television services within the proposed
6 franchise area, the long term economic impact of such
7 additional cable television system within the community,
8 and such other factors as the franchising authority shall
9 deem appropriate.
10 (3) Determine, based upon the foregoing factors,
11 whether it is in the best interest of the county
12 municipality to grant such additional cable television
13 franchise.
14 (4) If the franchising authority shall determine
15 that it is in the best interest of the county
16 municipality to do so, it may grant the additional cable
17 television franchise. Except as provided in paragraph
18 (5) of this subsection (e), provided that no such
19 additional cable television franchise shall be granted
20 under terms or conditions more favorable or less
21 burdensome to the applicant than those required under the
22 existing cable television franchise, including but not
23 limited to terms and conditions pertaining to the
24 territorial extent of the franchise, system design,
25 technical performance standards, construction schedules,
26 performance bonds, standards for construction and
27 installation of cable television facilities, service to
28 subscribers, public educational and governmental access
29 channels and programming, production assistance,
30 liability and indemnification, and franchise fees.
31 (5) Unless the existing cable television franchise
32 provides that any additional cable television franchise
33 shall be subject to the same terms or substantially
34 equivalent terms and conditions as those of the existing
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1 cable television franchise, the franchising authority may
2 grant an additional cable television franchise under
3 different terms and conditions than those of the existing
4 franchise, in which event the franchising authority shall
5 enter into good faith negotiations with the existing
6 franchisee and shall, within 120 days after the effective
7 date of the additional cable television franchise, modify
8 the existing cable television franchise in a manner and
9 to the extent necessary to ensure that neither the
10 existing cable television franchise nor the additional
11 cable television franchise, each considered in its
12 entirety, provides a competitive advantage over the
13 other, provided that prior to modifying the existing
14 cable television franchise, the franchising authority
15 shall have conducted a public hearing to consider the
16 proposed modification. No modification in the terms and
17 conditions of the existing cable television franchise
18 shall oblige the existing cable television franchisee (1)
19 to make any additional payment to the franchising
20 authority, including the payment of any additional
21 franchise fee, (2) to engage in any additional
22 construction of the existing cable television system or,
23 (3) to modify the specifications or design of the
24 existing cable television system; and the inclusion of
25 the factors identified in items (2) and (3) shall not be
26 considered in determining whether either franchise
27 considered in its entirety, has a competitive advantage
28 over the other except to the extent that the additional
29 franchisee provides additional video or data services or
30 the equipment or facilities necessary to generate and or
31 carry such service. No modification in the terms and
32 conditions of the existing cable television franchise
33 shall be made if the existing cable television franchisee
34 elects to continue to operate under all terms and
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1 conditions of the existing franchise.
2 If within the 120 day period the franchising
3 authority and the existing cable television franchisee
4 are unable to reach agreement on modifications to the
5 existing cable television franchise, then the franchising
6 authority shall modify the existing cable television
7 franchise, effective 45 days thereafter, in a manner, and
8 only to the extent, that the terms and conditions of the
9 existing cable television franchise shall no longer
10 impose any duty or obligation on the existing franchisee
11 which is not also imposed under the additional cable
12 television franchise; however, if by the modification the
13 existing cable television franchisee is relieved of
14 duties or obligations not imposed under the additional
15 cable television franchise, then within the same 45 days
16 and following a public hearing concerning modification of
17 the additional cable television franchise within that 45
18 day period, the franchising authority shall modify the
19 additional cable television franchise to the extent
20 necessary to insure that neither the existing cable
21 television franchise nor the additional cable television
22 franchise, each considered in its entirety, shall have a
23 competitive advantage over the other.
24 No county shall be subject to suit for damages based upon
25 the county's determination to grant or its refusal to grant
26 an additional cable television franchise, provided that a
27 public hearing as herein provided has been held and the
28 franchising authority has determined that it is not in the
29 best interest of the county to grant or refuse to grant such
30 additional franchise, as the case may be.
31 It is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to
32 paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
33 Illinois Constitution, that the establishment of minimum
34 standards and procedures for the granting of additional cable
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1 television franchises as provided in this subsection (e) is
2 an exclusive State power and function that may not be
3 exercised concurrently by a home rule unit.
4 (Source: P.A. 86-962; 86-1410; revised 1-27-97.)
5 Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
6 changing Section 11-42-11 as follows:
7 (65 ILCS 5/11-42-11) (from Ch. 24, par. 11-42-11)
8 Sec. 11-42-11. Community antenna television systems;
9 satellite transmitted television programming.
10 (a) The corporate authorities of each municipality may
11 license, franchise and tax the business of operating a
12 community antenna television system as hereinafter defined.
13 In municipalities with less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the
14 corporate authorities may own (or lease as lessee) and
15 operate a community antenna television system. Before
16 acquiring, constructing, or commencing operation of a
17 community antenna television system, the municipality shall
18 comply with the following:
19 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of
20 any other community antenna television system franchised
21 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be
22 served by the municipality's community antenna television
23 system, specifying the date, time, and place at which the
24 municipality shall conduct public hearings to consider
25 and determine whether the municipality should acquire,
26 construct, or commence operation of a community antenna
27 television system. The public hearings shall be
28 conducted at least 14 days after this notice is given.
29 (2) Publish a notice of the hearing in 2 or more
30 newspapers published in the county, city, village,
31 incorporated town, or town, as the case may be. If there
32 is no such newspaper, then notice shall be published in
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1 any 2 or more newspapers published in the county and
2 having a general circulation throughout the community.
3 The public hearings shall be conducted at least 14 days
4 after this notice is given.
5 (3) Conduct a public hearing to determine the means
6 by which construction, maintenance, and operation of the
7 system will be financed, including whether the use of tax
8 revenues or other fees will be required.
9 (b) The words "community antenna television system"
10 shall mean any facility which is constructed in whole or in
11 part in, on, under or over any highway or other public place
12 and which is operated to perform for hire the service of
13 receiving and amplifying the signals broadcast by one or more
14 television stations and redistributing such signals by wire,
15 cable or other means to members of the public who subscribe
16 to such service; except that such definition shall not
17 include (i) any system which serves fewer than fifty
18 subscribers, or (ii) any system which serves only the
19 residents of one or more apartment dwellings under common
20 ownership, control or management, and commercial
21 establishments located on the premises of such dwellings.
22 (c) The authority hereby granted does not include
23 authority to license, franchise or tax telephone companies
24 subject to jurisdiction of the Illinois Commerce Commission
25 or the Federal Communications Commission in connection with
26 the furnishing of circuits, wires, cables, and other
27 facilities to the operator of a community antenna television
28 system.
29 The corporate authorities of each municipality may, in
30 the course of franchising such community antenna television
31 system, grant to such franchisee the authority and the right
32 and permission to use all public streets, rights of way,
33 alleys, ways for public service facilities, parks,
34 playgrounds, school grounds, or other public grounds, in
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1 which such municipality may have an interest, for the
2 construction, installation, operation, maintenance,
3 alteration, addition, extension or improvement of a community
4 antenna television system.
5 Any charge imposed by a community antenna television
6 system franchised pursuant to this Section for the raising or
7 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from a
8 street shall not exceed the reasonable costs of work
9 reasonably necessary to safely permit such passage. Pursuant
10 to subsections (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
11 Constitution of the State of Illinois, the General Assembly
12 declares the regulation of charges which may be imposed by
13 community antenna television systems for the raising or
14 removal of cables or lines to permit passage on, to or from
15 streets is a power or function to be exercised exclusively by
16 the State and not to be exercised or performed concurrently
17 with the State by any unit of local government, including any
18 home rule unit.
19 The municipality may, upon written request by the
20 franchisee of a community antenna television system, exercise
21 its right of eminent domain solely for the purpose of
22 granting an easement right no greater than 8 feet in width,
23 extending no greater than 8 feet from any lot line for the
24 purpose of extending cable across any parcel of property in
25 the manner provided by the law of eminent domain, provided,
26 however, such franchisee deposits with the municipality
27 sufficient security to pay all costs incurred by the
28 municipality in the exercise of its right of eminent domain.
29 (d) The General Assembly finds and declares that
30 satellite-transmitted television programming should be
31 available to those who desire to subscribe to such
32 programming and that decoding devices should be obtainable at
33 reasonable prices by those who are unable to obtain
34 satellite-transmitted television programming through duly
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1 franchised community antenna television systems.
2 In any instance in which a person is unable to obtain
3 satellite-transmitted television programming through a duly
4 franchised community antenna television system either because
5 the municipality and county in which such person resides has
6 not granted a franchise to operate and maintain a community
7 antenna television system, or because the duly franchised
8 community antenna television system operator does not make
9 cable television services available to such person, any
10 programming company that delivers satellite-transmitted
11 television programming in scrambled or encrypted form shall
12 ensure that devices for description of such programming are
13 made available to such person, through the local community
14 antenna television operator or directly, for purchase or
15 lease at prices reasonably related to the cost of manufacture
16 and distribution of such devices.
17 (e) The General Assembly finds and declares that, in
18 order to ensure that community antenna television services
19 are provided in an orderly, competitive and economically
20 sound manner, the best interests of the public will be served
21 by the establishment of certain minimum standards and
22 procedures for the granting of additional cable television
23 franchises.
24 Subject to the provisions of this subsection, the
25 authority granted under subsection (a) hereof shall include
26 the authority to license, franchise and tax more than one
27 cable operator to provide community antenna television
28 services within the corporate limits of a single franchising
29 authority. For purposes of this subsection (e), the term:
30 (i) "Existing cable television franchise" means a
31 community antenna television franchise granted by a
32 municipality which is in use at the time such
33 municipality receives an application or request by
34 another cable operator for a franchise to provide cable
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1 antenna television services within all or any portion of
2 the territorial area which is or may be served under the
3 existing cable television franchise.
4 (ii) "Additional cable television franchise" means
5 a franchise pursuant to which community antenna
6 television services may be provided within the
7 territorial areas, or any portion thereof, which may be
8 served under an existing cable television franchise.
9 (iii) "Franchising Authority" is defined as that
10 term is defined under Section 602(9) of the Cable
11 Communications Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549, but
12 does not include any municipality with a population of
13 1,000,000 or more.
14 (iv) "Cable operator" is defined as that term is
15 defined under Section 602(4) of the Cable Communications
16 Policy Act of 1984, Public Law 98-549.
17 Before granting an additional cable television franchise,
18 the franchising authority shall:
19 (1) Give written notice to the owner or operator of
20 any other community antenna television system franchised
21 to serve all or any portion of the territorial area to be
22 served by such additional cable television franchise,
23 identifying the applicant for such additional franchise
24 and specifying the date, time and place at which the
25 franchising authority shall conduct public hearings to
26 consider and determine whether such additional cable
27 television franchise should be granted.
28 (2) Conduct a public hearing to determine the
29 public need for such additional cable television
30 franchise, the capacity of public rights-of-way to
31 accommodate such additional community antenna television
32 services, the potential disruption to existing users of
33 public rights-of-way to be used by such additional
34 franchise applicant to complete construction and to
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1 provide cable television services within the proposed
2 franchise area, the long term economic impact of such
3 additional cable television system within the community,
4 and such other factors as the franchising authority shall
5 deem appropriate.
6 (3) Determine, based upon the foregoing factors,
7 whether it is in the best interest of the municipality to
8 grant such additional cable television franchise.
9 (4) If the franchising authority shall determine
10 that it is in the best interest of the municipality to do
11 so, it may grant the additional cable television
12 franchise. Except as provided in paragraph (5) of this
13 subsection (e), provided that no such additional cable
14 television franchise shall be granted under terms or
15 conditions more favorable or less burdensome to the
16 applicant than those required under the existing cable
17 television franchise, including but not limited to terms
18 and conditions pertaining to the territorial extent of
19 the franchise, system design, technical performance
20 standards, construction schedules, performance bonds,
21 standards for construction and installation of cable
22 television facilities, service to subscribers, public
23 educational and governmental access channels and
24 programming, production assistance, liability and
25 indemnification, and franchise fees.
26 (5) Unless the existing cable television franchise
27 provides that any additional cable television franchise
28 shall be subject to the same terms or substantially
29 equivalent terms and conditions as those of the existing
30 cable television franchise, the franchising authority may
31 grant an additional cable television franchise under
32 different terms and conditions than those of the existing
33 franchise, in which event the franchising authority shall
34 enter into good faith negotiations with the existing
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1 franchisee and shall, within 120 days after the effective
2 date of the additional cable television franchise, modify
3 the existing cable television franchise in a manner and
4 to the extent necessary to ensure that neither the
5 existing cable television franchise nor the additional
6 cable television franchise, each considered in its
7 entirety, provides a competitive advantage over the
8 other, provided that prior to modifying the existing
9 cable television franchise, the franchising authority
10 shall have conducted a public hearing to consider the
11 proposed modification. No modification in the terms and
12 conditions of the existing cable television franchise
13 shall oblige the existing cable television franchisee (1)
14 to make any additional payment to the franchising
15 authority, including the payment of any additional
16 franchise fee, (2) to engage in any additional
17 construction of the existing cable television system or,
18 (3) to modify the specifications or design of the
19 existing cable television system; and the inclusion of
20 the factors identified in items (2) and (3) shall not be
21 considered in determining whether either franchise
22 considered in its entirety, has a competitive advantage
23 over the other except to the extent that the additional
24 franchisee provides additional video or data services or
25 the equipment or facilities necessary to generate and or
26 carry such service. No modification in the terms and
27 conditions of the existing cable television franchise
28 shall be made if the existing cable television franchisee
29 elects to continue to operate under all terms and
30 conditions of the existing franchise.
31 If within the 120 day period the franchising
32 authority and the existing cable television franchisee
33 are unable to reach agreement on modifications to the
34 existing cable television franchise, then the franchising
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1 authority shall modify the existing cable television
2 franchise, effective 45 days thereafter, in a manner, and
3 only to the extent, that the terms and conditions of the
4 existing cable television franchise shall no longer
5 impose any duty or obligation on the existing franchisee
6 which is not also imposed under the additional cable
7 television franchise; however, if by the modification the
8 existing cable television franchisee is relieved of
9 duties or obligations not imposed under the additional
10 cable television franchise, then within the same 45 days
11 and following a public hearing concerning modification of
12 the additional cable television franchise within that 45
13 day period, the franchising authority shall modify the
14 additional cable television franchise to the extent
15 necessary to insure that neither the existing cable
16 television franchise nor the additional cable television
17 franchise, each considered in its entirety, shall have a
18 competitive advantage over the other.
19 No municipality shall be subject to suit for damages
20 based upon the municipality's determination to grant or its
21 refusal to grant an additional cable television franchise,
22 provided that a public hearing as herein provided has been
23 held and the franchising authority has determined that it is
24 not in the best interest of the municipality to grant or
25 refuse to grant such additional franchise, as the case may
26 be.
27 It is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to
28 paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the
29 Illinois Constitution, that the establishment of minimum
30 standards and procedures for the granting of additional cable
31 television franchises by municipalities with a population
32 less than 1,000,000 as provided in this subsection (e) is an
33 exclusive State power and function that may not be exercised
34 concurrently by a home rule unit.
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1 (Source: P.A. 89-657, eff. 8-14-96.)
2 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3 becoming law.
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