Broadcasters Take AM Radio Fight To Capitol Hill.

Broadcasters from more than 30 states are descending on Capitol Hill this week as the National Association of Broadcasters launches a renewed lobbying push to keep the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act from getting lost in Congress' crowded legislative agenda.

The fly-in comes as lawmakers prepare for the August recess and face mounting pressure to complete work on a long list of priorities before the end of the year. While the AM legislation enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support, NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt says broad backing alone won't get the measure across the finish line.

“When we look at all the things on the Washington to-do list for the remainder of the year, and measured against the waning number of legislative days, we thought it was exceedingly important to ensure that the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act stays at the top of the list for policymakers,” LeGeyt said in an interview.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (H.R.979/S. 315) would mandate AM in passenger vehicles for eight years, and require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring warning labels on vehicles that don’t. The bill has had significant momentum. It has 318 House co-sponsors and the support of 61 Senators after advancing through both chambers with near-unanimous support. Radio’s push has now pivoted from building support to finding legislative time.

“In Washington today, there are so many distractions, so much noise that we don’t take anything for granted,” LeGeyt said. “This remains our top priority advocacy-wise for the radio industry.”

The lobbying blitz will see broadcaster to meet with local members of Congress and their staffs. The effort will also see broadcasters alongside organizations including AARP and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

LeGeyt believes having groups other than broadcasters helping to reinforce the legislation’s public safety message will help “validate” the need to keep AM in dashboards. “They view that as exceedingly important to the communities that they serve,” he said.

Three years after the idea of mandating AM in vehicles was first proposed, the industry has several potential paths forward in the current Congress. In May, House lawmakers added it to the surface transportation reauthorization package. Rather than betting on a single path to passage, LeGeyt said NAB also intends to seek opportunities in appropriations legislation or any other must-pass package that moves later this year.

“We are going to ensure that this bill has a lot of different options to get over the finish line,” LeGeyt said. “Whether that is a standalone vote in both the House and the Senate — or it’s connected to larger legislative packages — we’re going to push for this provision’s inclusion in any of them.”

The congressional calendar presents both challenges and opportunities. With relatively few legislative days remaining before lawmakers shift their attention to the election, advocates face increasing competition for floor time. At the same time, lawmakers often feel greater urgency late in a session to move bipartisan legislation that already has broad support. It’s why NAB believes the fly-in will be valuable.

“It’s to remind policymakers of the public safety benefits, the free and always available service that broadcasters provide, and the consumer harm when it’s left out of the automobile,” he said. “We’ll leave it to the legislators to figure out the best way to get it over the finish line.”

While the industry’s window may appear unusually favorable, LeGeyt also rejects the idea that this represents a “do or die” moment.

“I would certainly never say it is now or never,” he said. “But I think we are very well positioned to get the bill done this Congress, so long as we continue to do our work to keep it top of mind for policymakers.”

The NAB and the radio industry overall has spent a lot of political capital on the AM issue in recent years even as more listening is done on FM. But LeGeyt sees the issue as larger than AM or FM. He argues the campaign has become a broader affirmation of radio’s role in American communities, and protecting AM also helps preserve radio’s overall prominence in increasingly screen-based dashboards.

“While what’s specifically prescribed in the bill may be limited to AM, the practical effect is much broader than that,” LeGeyt said, noting a million listeners have urged Congress to keep radio in their dashboards. “It’s put wind in the industry sails,” he said. “Reaffirming not only for policymakers, but also for our entire community of broadcasters, of the enduring appreciation that still exists in communities across the country for what we do.”