Radio’s AM Fight Shifts From Winning Support To Winning A Vote.

This week’s push by broadcasters to accelerate action on a bill that would require AM in vehicle dashboard aims to keep the legislation from getting lost in the noise of Washington in an election year. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), who controls what is brought to the floor, is also getting a public push to bring the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act up for a vote.

During an appearance on Salem Radio Network’s “Hugh Hewitt Show” on Monday, President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said they supported the bill that has been a top priority for the radio industry.

“I like the idea,” said Trump, who has repeatedly supported the AM requirement since he was on the campaign trail in 2024. “We’re backing it 100%. Nothing’s going to happen to AM radio that’s bad,” he pledged, noting it is where a lot of Republican voices can be found. “A lot of our people are on AM radio,” said Trump.

Johnson, who like Scalise isn’t one of the 318 House members on the record publicly supporting the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, did however signal he is well-versed in the issues at play. “I used to be a broadcaster on AM radio,” Johnson told Hewitt. Before becoming Speaker, Johnson was a regular fill-in host for Tony Perkins’ nationally syndicated radio program “Washington Watch” from 2015 to 2022.

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.

Dozens of broadcasters barnstormed Capitol Hill on Tuesday, along with representatives from AARP, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and local emergency managers. The National Association of Broadcasters says their message to lawmakers was simple — passage of the bill is overdue.

“The time for Congress to act is now,” NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “Congress has everything it needs to act. It is time to finish the job and send this bill to the president’s desk.”

In an earlier interview, LeGeyt said the industry hopes to use the momentum of the fly-in to bring attention to AM issue, saying broadcasters cannot take anything for granted at a time when there are so many distractions in Washington.

The legislation has earned overwhelming bipartisan support. It also backed by more than 125 organizations, including the National Emergency Management Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, Native Public Media, SAG-AFTRA and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters.

Three years into the industry’s campaign to keep AM in dashboards, LeGeyt said NAB also continues to keep the door open to discussions with automakers, even as legislative action remains its primary focus. The effort gained momentum in 2023 when Ford reversed plans to remove AM from its electric vehicles. But no other major automaker has publicly followed suit in the three years since.

Asked whether any manufacturers may now be reconsidering their position, LeGeyt told Inside Radio it is unclear whether any additional voluntary restorations are imminent. “Our organization remains very open to those conversations,” he added.