Whether the Cable Act preempts state and local laws that prevent cable companies from selling their services at their chosen rate for the final month of service

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 generally prohibits states from “regulat[ing] the rates for the provision of cable service” by cable companies, and it deems any state or local laws inconsistent with this prohibition to be “preempted and superseded.” 47 U.S.C. §§ 5438(a)(1)-(2), 556(c). Notwithstanding that ban on rate regulation, states and municipalities have increasingly enacted laws that directly govern the rates cable companies may charge subscribers for the final month of service when the subscriber cancels service in the middle of that month. Here, Maine enacted a statute forbidding cable companies from charging a fixed rate for the final month, and instead requiring such companies to charge a prorated rate. Me. Stat. tit. 30-A, § 3010(1-A) (2021). The questions presented are as follows: 1. Whether the Cable Act preempts state and local laws that prevent cable companies from selling their services at their chosen rate for the final month of service. 2. Whether courts should interpret express preemption clauses according to their plain language, or should instead apply a non-textual presumption against preemption.