The fight to get a federal requirement to keep AM in the dashboard appears all but over as the current session of Congress winds down, but broadcasters aren’t anywhere close to waving the white flag of surrender. Much of the legwork getting 271 House members and 63 Senators onboard came at the local level, and the head of the National Alliance of State Broadcasters Association says it’s important to remember what broadcasters accomplished so far.“We are disappointed and this is not the outcome we worked so hard to achieve, however, we want to recognize the tremendous progress,” says Minnesota Broadcasters Association President Wendy Paulson, who is currently serving as President of NASBA. She points to more than 800,000 listener communications sent to Congress, and dozens of third-party groups who voiced their support for the critical legislation alongside majorities of both the House and Senate.
“We think the accomplishments underscore the strength of our collective advocacy with the NAB, State Broadcast Associations and our members, our stakeholders on Capitol Hill and in broadcasting like FEMA and IPAWS and most importantly, the 82 million people who listen to AM each month and champion it’s critical importance for public safety, news, information and entertainment,” Paulson says email.
The proposed AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (H.R. 8449/S. 1669),would have required the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations in motor vehicles. If carmakers didn’t comply, they could be fined. Before the effective date of the rule, manufacturers who do not include AM would be required to put a warning label on vehicles. And carmakers would be prohibited from charging extra for AM.
Under the bill, automakers would have had at least two years to comply with the rule, although some manufacturers that produce fewer than 40,000 passenger cars for sale in the U.S. would have at least four years to meet the requirement.
Paulson says NASBA members will continue the fight to preserve AM’s place in vehicles once the new Congress is sworn-in next month.
“We are preparing for 2025 and are confident in our shared resolve to build on this momentum and bring this important legislation to fruition,” Paulson says. “We will return energized and ready to tackle the road ahead as we reintroduce AM legislation early in the next Congress and work to secure a swift path forward.”
National Association of Broadcasters President Curtis LeGeyt has said he too sees positives in how the AM bill played out during the past two years, including the hundreds of thousands of listeners who contacted their local lawmakers. “NAB remains committed to working with the next Congress to swiftly pass this legislation and ensure AM radio’s critical role is preserved in automobiles for all Americans,” he said Tuesday.
The budget bill (H.R.10445) that House and Senate leaders reached this week to keep the federal government open through March 14, 2025 included several pieces of legislation—but not the AM radio bill. Illustrating just how tenuous things are in Washington, that deal now appears to be at risk of collapsing. A growing number of Republicans are voicing objections to the deal as President-elect Donald Trump is calling for a clean stopgap funding bill without any of the add-on legislation. Those included $100 billion of funding for disaster recover and $30 billion for farmers.
“The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill without Democrat giveaways combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” Trump said in a statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance. “If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then call their bluff.”
House Speaker Tim Johnson (R-LA) is reportedly considering a backup plan that would bring a so-called “clean” spending bill to the floor. But Democrats may not give it their support, and key GOP allies like Elon Musk, Steve Bannon, and Vivek Ramaswamy have been urging Republican members to reject any temporary spending proposal.
If lawmakers don’t pass a spending bill, the government is set to shut down on Saturday.