NAB's Gustafson 'Optimistic' House Will Pass AM Radio Vehicle Mandate in Early 2026
Nicole Gustafson, NAB's senior vice president of government relations, said during a podcast released Friday that she's “very optimistic” that the House will vote on the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979) “early next year,” given recent evidence of momentum in the measure’s favor.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, HR-979’s lead GOP sponsor, had expected a fast-track House vote earlier this month but later acknowledged that the timeline had shifted amid other legislative priorities (see 2512100041).
Gustafson noted that Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., has told HR-979’s supporters “that he plans to have the bill on the House floor very soon.” Scalise isn't a co-sponsor and agreed to allow fast-track floor consideration of the measure only once he reached a deal with the bill's backers to lower its proposed sunset to eight years from the previous 10-year timeline (see 2511260058). Gustafson noted that “we got so close” to getting a previous iteration of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act included in a continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations last year. Congressional leaders dropped that bid after Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pressed to move the measure only in tandem with the American Music Fairness Act (see 2412180033).
The House will likely pass HR-979 by “an overwhelming vote” before the legislation moves on to the Senate, where it’s unlikely to move by unanimous consent, Gustafson said. “Three senators have objected” in the past to moving previous iterations of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act using that process, so “we either need to find floor time, which is really hard to do in the Senate,” or find a larger must-pass package to use as a legislative vehicle, she said. “We have some potential options [that] we’re working on” to move HR-979 that way.