Just one day after announcing 16 lawmakers have joined the Local Radio Freedom Act, the NAB says nine more have signed on. The LRFA now has 164 cosponsors in the House and 18 in the Senate.
The new lawmakers that are now officially on radio’s side are, from The House: Reps. Dave Brat (VA-7), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Tom Graves (GA-14), Alcee Hastings (FL-20), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Filemon Vela (TX-34), Peter Visclosky (IN-1) and Lee Zeldin (NY-01). Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) also added his name. Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) are the principal cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 13) in the House of Representatives. Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) introduced a companion resolution in the Senate (S. Con. Res. 6).
The Local Radio Freedom Act says: “Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station broadcast over the air.”
