A bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives are now cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act, 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 222 cosponsors in the House and 28 in the Senate.
From Wisconsin, representatives Bryan Steil (R-WI-1), Ron Kind (D-WI-3), Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6), Tom Tiffany (R-WI-7) and Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) support the LRFA. The same group, including Sen. Johnson, supported LRFA in the last session of Congress.
“America’s radio broadcasters are deeply thankful to the nearly 250 bipartisan House and Senate cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act,” said NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. “Local radio stations’ irreplaceable service to their communities and our decades-long relationship with recording artists would be greatly damaged by a burdensome performance royalty. The support for broadcast radio from a majority of the House helps ensure that local stations can continue playing an indispensable role to our tens of millions of listeners without harming the historic partnership between broadcasters and the record industry.”
