With Congress back this week for a narrow window before its pre-election recess, NAB and AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act allies like the National Religious Broadcasters are making an urgent push for a House floor vote, warning the bipartisan bill’s time is running out.
NAB used the latest episode of the association’s AirTime podcast to talk with National Religious Broadcasters VP of Public Policy and Salem Media VP of Government Affairs Nic Anderson to discuss the narrowing window. “Our energy has been focused on pushing for a floor vote through the House suspension calendar, and we’re talking directly with the White House and House leadership to make that case, to move it now and not later,” said Anderson.
The House returned this week for a four-day session running through September 3, then breaks for Labor Day before a three-week stretch in DC. October 1 is the last scheduled House session day before a break of more than five weeks ahead of the November 3 midterms; members aren’t due back until November 9, leaving December as one of the few remaining windows to get the bill signed into law before this Congress runs out of time.
“And at the same time, we’re also reaching out to members who are co-sponsors and members who didn’t co-sponsor it but will still vote for it on the floor just to confirm and reaffirm the support that we know it’s coming.” The act currently has 317 co-sponsors in the House and 61 in the Senate.
Minnesota Broadcasters Association President Wendy Paulson told Radio Ink that the message hasn’t changed since the NAB State Leadership conference, just the urgency behind it. Her team has been back to Capitol Hill twice since then, in June for MBA’s mid-year trip and again in July for NAB’s AM Radio Fly-In, bringing more than 30 state broadcasters and their teams face-to-face with lawmakers. “This legislation has overwhelming support,” Paulson says in Radio Ink‘s upcoming September issue. “It deserves a floor vote. It is time to get it across the finish line and get it passed.”
Anderson added that ensuring AM remains available in vehicles is critical to local radio’s future.
“How we handle AM in the vehicle sets the precedent for over-the-air radio, period,” he said. “If AM gets a drop because it’s cheaper or easier for the automakers, the same logic will apply to FM down the road. So this isn’t just about AM, it’s about whether free, over-the-air radio has a future in the car at all.”
The NAB has released PSAs in English and Spanish asking radio listeners to contact their members of Congress by texting AM to 39179, urging them to support legislation that ensures AM radio remains in cars. Get them for your station here.
