Supporters of AM Radio Vehicle Mandate Renewing Push for 2024, Despite Headwinds

“There’s a good likelihood” that HR-3413/S-1669 sponsors will attach the measure to a larger, must-pass legislative vehicle to advance it in both chambers, Cruz told us in December. He and other HR-3413/S-1669 sponsors are eyeing appropriations measures and the farm bill as potential vehicles as attachment targets, communications sector lobbyists told us. There’s also an effort afoot to convince Paul to relent. “We’re exploring multiple avenues to get it passed,” Cruz said.

“There’s overwhelming support for” HR-3413/S-1669 “and I would like to see” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “schedule a floor vote” on it, Cruz told us. Lobbyists noted chatter in recent weeks that Cruz and other leaders are campaigning for Schumer to allow floor time to consider S-1669. It’s unclear when Senate leaders could do this, considering lawmakers' top priority this week is reaching an appropriations deal before continuing resolutions funding the federal government expire Jan. 19 and Feb. 2., lobbyists said.

“We’re going to keep pushing to see if we can” get HR-3413/S-1669 approved “in one form or another” in 2024, said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., who advocated for the bill during the UC fight. “What’s absolutely clear to me” is “there is strong, bipartisan support,” Paul notwithstanding, Lujan said. He noted Ford Motor and other automakers backtracked on earlier proposals to remove AM radio functionality in new electric vehicles since Cruz and others filed HR-3413/S-1669 in May (see 2305230047). Automakers that claim keeping AM radio functionality in EVs will compromise the efficiency of vehicle batteries are using “the same failed argument” they made against mandating seatbelts, airbags and other technologies, Lujan said.

Peters, Latta Misgivings

Paul is the most public congressional opponent of HR-3413/S-1669, but he isn’t the only lawmaker ready to put up roadblocks. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us he’s “still raising questions” about the measure but didn’t “want to talk about” why he opposes it. Peters was the only Senate Commerce member who asked the panel to record him as a no vote on S-1669 in July. Lobbyists pointed to Peters’ home-state automakers ties as his main reason for opposing the bill.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., may also have misgivings about HR-3413/S-1669, lobbyists said. His office didn’t comment.

House Commerce Committee Republicans continue to be skeptical that the kind of mandate HR-3413/S-1669 proposes is necessary, as they said during a June hearing (see 2306060088). “We haven’t had a discussion on that bill in a while,” but many panel Republicans still have an issue with mandating the technology’s inclusion in future vehicles, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “We want to make sure it’s still available for national security reasons because” if other technologies fail, “AM is still going to be able to broadcast” essential information. Latta cited Ford’s decision to keep the technology in its vehicles as evidence that a mandate may not be necessary. He acknowledged “we haven’t [heard] much back” from other automakers about their plans since the June hearing.

House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., believes there’s still a window for Congress to pass HR-3413/S-1669. “No matter how advanced technology gets, AM radio is something I feel we need to keep” around “because it’s available to everybody” across the U.S., she said: “Everybody gets AM” and “nobody has to figure out how to operate it” during an emergency.

Momentum Questions

HR-3413/S-1669 supporters are optimistic about the bill's 2024 prospects, but some acknowledge the 2024 election cycle could impact Congress' legislative appetite. There’s “overwhelming support” for S-1669 in the Senate despite some objections, New York State Broadcasters Association President David Donovan told us. He expects the bill’s sponsors will attach it to a larger measure, “hopefully earlier in the session.” HR-3413/S-1669 will likely face more hurdles in the House than in the Senate. Senate passage would change the “equation” in the bill’s favor, he believes. “Once the Senate moves, the House will follow.”

Capitol Resources lobbyist John Simpson thinks HR-3413/S-1669 is well positioned for 2024. “Anytime you have” S-1669 lead sponsors Cruz and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., “on the same side of an issue, you have to pay attention,” Simpson said. The bill is “incredibly important” to public broadcasters and conservative media because both heavily rely on AM. “That leaves the auto industry and consumer electronics industry little space to maneuver.”

“In less than a year,” HR-3413/S-1669 “has gained remarkable momentum, highlighting the widespread importance of AM radio,” said NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt in a statement. “This bipartisan collaboration has the support of 240 members of Congress focused on ensuring that AM radio remains accessible for all. We look forward to working with these policymakers to pass this critical legislation."

However, CTA and other HR-3413/S-1669 opponents believe a confluence of factors will continue to hamper the measure. “Years of declining AM listenership has left broadcasters looking to Congress to preserve their market share,” CTA Policy Affairs Manager India Herdman said in a statement. “In reality, all cars have access to AM radio programming. Let's let the free market and innovation enable consumer choice.” The NAB-backed HR-3413/S-1669 “fails to bring modernization to an antiquated system while doubling down on outdated alert systems,” she added.

“I don’t think that it is going to pass,” in part because Paul’s December objection to the measure “has raised awareness” about its “strange provisions,” said Consumer Choice Center Media Director Stephen Kent. “I think there was a chance this could have passed if it had flown under the radar,” but its “political toxicity has become too great” following publicity from Paul’s objection. Cruz’s role as a co-sponsor shows he’s “aligned himself with the ‘common good’ faction of the Republican Party” and “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Cruz’s national constituency is getting to know him via talk radio,” Kent said.