State Broadcasters Support Bills to Bring Back Minority Tax Certificate
Fifty U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and territorial broadcaster associations wrote congressional leaders Thursday urging them to “swiftly” pass the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act (HR-4871) and Broadcast Varied Ownership Incentives for Community Expanded Service Act (S-2456). The measures, filed last month…
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!
as expected (see 2104150057), would bring back the minority broadcaster tax certificate program. NAB supports the bills. The House Commerce Committee advanced the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act in the last Congress, but the full chamber didn’t pass it (see 2009090068). “Broadcasters provide an invaluable resource to all communities” and “our strength is in our ability to cover diverse community experiences and tell stories from an authentic perspective,” the state broadcasters said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the chambers’ GOP leaders. “The tax certificate program will help us build a local media landscape that reflects our communities on the air, both in the control booth and boardroom.” The bills will also “help with building a pipeline for a new generation of broadcast station owners that is inclusive of women, people of color and other underrepresented individuals,” the broadcasters said.