More than 35 people representing Wisconsin broadcasters were in Washington DC this week to meet with the state’s two Senators and eight House Representatives to talk about their service to their local communities and several issues facing the industry.
WBA leadership arrived early to attend NAB’s State Leadership Conference on Tuesday to get updated on what’s happening on Capitol Hill. They heard from NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith, Senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, Assistant House Majority Leader Ben Ray Lujan, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, Sen. Roger Wicker, and the NAB government relations team.
The rest of the WBA team arrived in the afternoon to get a briefing from Sen. Smith and the NAB team about issues to discuss with the Congressional delegation on Wednesday.
The NAB hosted a reception Tuesday evening at beautiful Union Station for conference attendees from throughout the country and members of Congress. Rep. Glenn Grothman stopped by and numerous staff members from the offices of other Wisconsin lawmakers also visited.
There was an early wake-up call on Wednesday to get to the first appointment on Capitol Hill. WBA members were able to meet with Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Bryan Stiel, Rep. Ron Kind, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Rep. Glenn Grothman, Rep. Sean Duffy, and Rep. Mike Gallagher and staff members for Rep. Mark Pocan and Rep. Gwen Moore.
Broadcasters asked for lawmakers to support the Local Radio Freedom Act and thanked those who are already cosponsors. They explained by STELAR authorization should be allowed to run out at the end of the year. They also updated lawmakers on the television repack and asked them to keep broadcasters’ interests in mind should there be a reallocation of C-Band spectrum.
These visits are a critical to maintaining strong relationships with federal lawmakers. Your WBA is grateful to all broadcasters who took part in the DC trip.
