After a mid-summer delay, progress for the bill that would require every vehicle sold in the U.S. to feature AM radio in the dashboard appears back on track. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill on Wednesday. If the proposed AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (H.R. 8449) is approved, it would clear the way for the bill to be voted on in the full House.
The latest version of the legislation has had some small revisions in recent months, mainly to include a timetable for when carmakers would need to meet the AM mandate. The new bill is now in line with what the Senate version says. If passed, it will require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring access to AM broadcast stations in motor vehicles. If they don’t, carmakers could be fined.
Before the effective date of the rule, manufacturers that do not include AM would be required to put a warning label on vehicles. Automakers would have at least two years to comply with the rule, although some manufacturers that produce fewer than 40,000 passenger cars for sale in the U.S. would have at least four years to meet the requirement.
Support for the legislation continues to grow in Washington. In recent weeks, several more members of Congress signed on as co-sponsors of the bill to keep AM radio in vehicle dashboards, bringing the total number of House members backing the effort to 262 with the addition of Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Troy Carter (D-LA). In the Senate, the companion bill’s support has climbed to 63 members with Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) last week joining the list of co-sponsors.
The bill has already made progress in the Senate, where a majority of 62 lawmakers have said they support it. The Senate version (S. 1669) passed out of committee in July 2023 and is now in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). But he has not yet scheduled the bill for a final vote, despite having the super-majority required to overcome any potential filibuster.
Timing remains extremely limited before Election Day. Lawmakers returned to Washington after Labor Day, but little more than three weeks of legislative time is likely. Several bills with wide support are pending, and supporters who had thought the AM bill would advance during a mark-up session in July are hoping they will be able to get it through this month or in early October. Otherwise, the AM bill would get pushed back to the lame-duck session after the election.
Last month a coalition of a dozen conservative groups urged House Republican leaders to bring the proposed AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act to a vote as quickly as possible. The group calls the decision by some carmakers to remove AM radio “unnecessary and unjustified” and says such a move would eliminate “one of the most important communication tools available.” Salem Media Group and the National Religious Broadcasters also signed the letter.
With the clock ticking, NRB has urged its members to help get the bill passed. “AM radio is a messenger of stability and a calm in the storm, whether it’s hurricane season or the everyday tempests of life,” NRB says in an essay on its website. The new communiqué references an op-ed in Newsmax penned in June by NRB President Troy Miller highlighting AM radio’s crucial role in hurricane season and other potential disasters. Miller pointed out in another piece that the AM radio requirement will not significantly increase the manufacturing expense of electric vehicles, and that the benefits of having AM radio in every vehicle outweigh any potential drawbacks.
