A special thank you to members of the Board of Directors and the Futures Committee who traveled to Washington DC last week to lobby members of Congress. As previously noted, we visited 21 Congressional offices in two days.
We are delighted to report that our meetings were successful. We were able to secure two additional votes, Rep. Brandon Williams (R. Syracuse) and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R. Long Island), to the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR 3413). To date, 16 House members from New York have signed on to the bill. As we go to press, H.R. 3413 has 227 co-sponsors, more than a majority of the House of Representatives. The Senate version of the bill, S1669, now has 47 co-sponsors, including Sen. Kristen Gillibrand.
We had a very important meeting with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Our discussion focused on ways to move the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act through the Senate and the House of Representatives. We are exploring avenues to move the bill.
In addition, we discussed a number of other issues. We supported S. 1094, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which would help protect stations’ content from being taken unfairly by Big Tech. We explained our concerns with AI and its potential negative impact on local stations. We also expressed our support for the Local Radio Freedom Act, which opposes the imposition of a performance tax for broadcasting music on free off-air radio. Finally, we raised concerns to New York City representatives about NYPD’s plans to encrypt all communications and block journalists’ access.