Almost 20 years ago, the FCC suspended the collection of annual data detailing the race, ethnicity, and job function of broadcast station employees. The primary constitutional concern about collecting the data on Form 395B was that it could be used to penalize stations for not meeting specific racial or gender quotas. This issue has remained.
It is not clear why the FCC would collect the information without using it for enforcement.
History is about to repeat itself. A number of Congressmen and FCC Commissioner Starks are now asking the FCC to reinstate Form 395 B. There appears to be support for reinstatement, and CC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may be taking steps to reinstate the data collection.
You can see the letter from members of Congress here.
View the comments of FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks here.
You can access the FCC Press Release regarding the letters from Congress here.