WASHINGTON, DC -- Ten members of the House of Representatives have added their support to a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local broadcast radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA), which signals members of Congress's opposition to any potential legislation that imposes new performance royalties on broadcast radio stations for music airplay, now has 87 cosponsors in the House and eight in the Senate.
Adding their support recently for the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House are Reps. Brian Babin (R-TX-36), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1), Scott Franklin (R-FL-15), Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1), Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9), Jim Jordan (R-OH-4), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10), Greg Pence (R-IN-6) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21).
This week, local broadcasters from around the country are advocating on relevant legislative and regulatory issues, including a potential performance royalty on radio stations, as part of NAB's State Leadership Conference.
Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) and Steve Womack (R-AR-3) are the principal cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House of Representatives. Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and John Barrasso (R-WY) are the lead cosponsors of a companion resolution in the Senate.
"Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station broadcast over the air," reads the Local Radio Freedom Act.
The 87 House cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act include (new cosponsors in bold):
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Rick Allen (R-GA-12) Mark Amodei (R-NV-2) Jodey Arrington (R-TX-19) Brian Babin (R-TX-36) Don Bacon (R-NE-2) Troy Balderson (R-OH-12) Jim Banks (R-IN-3) Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3) Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) Mike Bost (R-IL-12) Brendan Boyle (D-PA-2) Mo Brooks (R-AL-5) Anthony Brown (D-MD-4) Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17) Andre Carson (D-IN-7) Buddy Carter (R-GA-1) Kathy Castor (D-FL-14) Steve Chabot (R-OH-1) Tom Cole (R-OK-4) James Comer (R-KY-1) Jim Costa (D-CA-16) Rick Crawford (R-AR-1) Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12) Tom Emmer (R-MN-6) Dwight Evans (D-PA-3) Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1) Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5) Scott Franklin (R-FL-15) Mike Garcia (R-CA-25) Bob Gibbs (R-OH-7) Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX-15) Paul Gosar (R-AZ-4) Kay Granger (R-TX-12) Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6) Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1) French Hill (R-AR-2) Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9) Richard Hudson (R-NC-8) Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) Fred Keller (R-PA-12) |
Mike Kelly (R-PA-16) Andy Kim (D-NJ-3) Ron Kind (D-WI-3) Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16) Annie Kuster (D-NH-2) Bob Latta (R-OH-5) Al Lawson (D-FL-5) Stephen Lynch (D-MA-8) Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7) Thomas Massie (R-KY-4) Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) Dan Meuser (R-PA-9) Seth Moulton (D-MA-6) Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2) Greg Murphy (R-NC-3) Devin Nunes (R-CA-22) Steven Palazzo (R-MS-4) Chris Pappas (D-NH-1) Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10) Greg Pence (R-IN-6) Dean Phillips (D-MN-3) Bill Posey (R-FL-8) Hal Rogers (R-KY-5) David Rouzer (R-NC-7) Bobby Rush (D-IL-1) Gregorio Sablan (D-MP-AL) Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5) David Scott (D-GA-13) Mike Simpson (R-ID-2) Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) Van Taylor (R-TX-3) Tom Tiffany (R-WI-7) Michael Turner (R-OH-10) Fred Upton (R-MI-6) Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-2) Filemon Vela (D-TX-34) Tim Walberg (R-MI-7) Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4) Joe Wilson (R-SC-2) Rob Wittman (R-VA-1) Steve Womack (R-AR-3) Don Young (R-AK-AL) Lee Zeldin (R-NY-1) |
The Local Radio Freedom Act's eight Senate cosponsors are:
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John Barrasso (R-WY) Mike Crapo (R-ID) Steve Daines (R-MT) Joni Ernst (R-IA) |
Maggie Hassan (D-NH) Martin Heinrich (D-NM) Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) Jon Tester (D-MT) |
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.