Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2152 To direct the Federal Communications Commission to promulgate regulations requiring material in the online public inspection file of a covered entity to be made available in a format that is machine-readable. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 21, 2021 Mr. LUJA´N introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To direct the Federal Communications Commission to pro- mulgate regulations requiring material in the online pub- lic inspection file of a covered entity to be made available in a format that is machine-readable. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair and Clear Cam- 4 paign Transparency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2152 IS (1) On May 9, 2013, President Barack Obama 1 issued Executive Order 13642 (78 Fed. Reg. 28111 2 (May 14, 2013)), which made open and machine- 3 readable data the new default for Federal Govern- 4 ment information. 5 (2) Open data principles are essential for trans- 6 parency and efficiency in government. 7 (3) In 2012, the Federal Communications Com- 8 mission required television broadcast stations to post 9 on an online database hosted by the Commission cer- 10 tain materials in the files that those stations are re- 11 quired to maintain and make available for public in- 12 spection, including important information about the 13 purchasing of political advertisements. In 2016, the 14 Commission extended the online public inspection 15 file requirement to providers of cable and satellite 16 television service, radio broadcast stations, and pro- 17 viders of satellite radio service. 18 (4) The Commission declined to require those 19 materials to be machine-readable, deciding at the 20 time that it was more important to get the informa- 21 tion online faster. 22 (5) Machine readability is a critical component 23 of open government and provides interested parties 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2152 IS with the necessary access to evaluate data in a more 1 comprehensive way. 2 SEC. 3. MATERIAL IN ONLINE PUBLIC INSPECTION FILE RE- 3 QUIRED TO BE IN MACHINE-READABLE FOR- 4 MAT. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 7 means the Federal Communications Commission. 8 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 9 tity’’ means a full-powered television broadcast sta- 10 tion, class A television system, AM or FM radio 11 broadcast station, cable operator, direct broadcast 12 satellite service provider, satellite digital audio radio 13 service provider, or any other entity to which an on- 14 line public inspection file requirement applies. 15 (3) MACHINE-READABLE.—The term ‘‘machine- 16 readable’’ means, with respect to the format of ma- 17 terial in a public inspection file, that the format sup- 18 ports— 19 (A) the automated searching for particular 20 text within and among documents; 21 (B) the bulk downloading of data con- 22 tained in the material; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2152 IS (C) the aggregation, manipulation, sorting, 1 and analysis of the data contained in the mate- 2 rial; and 3 (D) any other functionality that the Com- 4 mission considers appropriate. 5 (4) ONLINE PUBLIC INSPECTION FILE RE- 6 QUIREMENT.—The term ‘‘online public inspection 7 file requirement’’ means a requirement for a covered 8 entity to make material in the public inspection file 9 of the entity available on, or upload the material to, 10 the online public file database hosted by the Com- 11 mission. 12 (5) POLITICAL FILE.—The term ‘‘political file’’ 13 means, with respect to a covered entity, the file that 14 the entity is required to maintain and make avail- 15 able for public inspection under section 315(e) of the 16 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(e)) or 17 under any similar requirement applicable to the enti- 18 ty that is administered by the Commission. 19 (6) PUBLIC INSPECTION FILE.—The term 20 ‘‘public inspection file’’, with respect to a covered en- 21 tity— 22 (A) means the file or files that the entity 23 is required to maintain and make available for 24 public inspection under section 25.701, 25.702, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2152 IS 73.3526, 73.3527, or 76.1700 of title 47, Code 1 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu- 2 lation), as applicable to the entity, or under any 3 similar requirement applicable to the entity that 4 is administered by the Commission; and 5 (B) includes any political file that the enti- 6 ty is required to maintain and make available 7 for public inspection. 8 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 10 promulgate regulations that require a covered entity, to 11 the extent that the entity is required to make material 12 in the public inspection file of the entity available on, or 13 upload the material to, the online public file database 14 hosted by the Commission, to make the material available 15 or upload the material in a format that is machine-read- 16 able. 17 (c) APPLICABILITY.— 18 (1) COVERED ENTITIES.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 20 subparagraph (B), the regulations promulgated 21 under subsection (b) shall apply— 22 (i) to a covered entity for which an 23 online public inspection file requirement is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2152 IS in effect on the date of the promulgation 1 of such regulations— 2 (I) with respect to the political 3 file portion of the public inspection 4 file, beginning not later than the date 5 that is 60 days after the date of such 6 promulgation; and 7 (II) with respect to the other por- 8 tions of the public inspection file, at 9 the same time as the regulations 10 apply under subclause (I) with respect 11 to the political file portion of the pub- 12 lic inspection file or as soon thereafter 13 as the Commission considers prac- 14 ticable; and 15 (ii) to a covered entity for which an 16 online public inspection file requirement 17 becomes effective after the date of the pro- 18 mulgation of the regulations— 19 (I) with respect to the political 20 file portion of the public inspection 21 file, beginning on the later of— 22 (aa) the date of applicability 23 of the regulations under clause 24 (i)(I); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2152 IS (bb) the date on which the 1 online public inspection file re- 2 quirement becomes effective for 3 the entity; and 4 (II) with respect to the other por- 5 tions of the public inspection file, at 6 the same time as the regulations 7 apply under subclause (I) with respect 8 to the political file portion of the pub- 9 lic inspection file or as soon thereafter 10 as the Commission considers prac- 11 ticable. 12 (B) EXTENSIONS FOR GOOD CAUSE.—The 13 Commission may extend a deadline under sub- 14 paragraph (A) for a specific covered entity or a 15 group of covered entities for good cause. 16 (2) NEW MATERIAL ONLY.—The regulations 17 promulgated under subsection (b) shall apply only to 18 material in the public inspection file of a covered en- 19 tity that is newly generated on or after the date of 20 the promulgation of the regulations. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2152.IS S2152 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS