The AM for Every Vehicle Act has already gained majority support of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It is nearing a simple majority in the Senate. Did heavy lobbying from automakers including General Motors to prevent the bill from moving forward fall flat?
That’s the conclusion one can likely make after a review of automakers’ Q4 2023 lobbying efforts, which included discussions that included the prevention of a government mandate to make kHz-band radio broadcasts accessible across cars, trucks, vans and other vehicles from coast to coast.
As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, GM raised its lobbying spend in the fourth quarter to $2.82 million, tying it for the tenth-highest-spending corporate lobbyer — with Google.
According to required lobbying disclosures, “S.1669/H.R. 3413, AM Radio” was listed among the policies a team of five, including some of GM’s senior lobbyists, pushed in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Honda was the second highest-spending lobbyer against the AM For Every Vehicle Act, with a quarter total of $681,520, spent toward the Senate, House, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Department of Transportation.
Ford lobbying rose slightly from $578,486 to $617,979. It listed “issues related to AM radio” as the cause for lobbying both houses of Congress as well as the FCC and the DOT.
Two manufacturers producing solely electric vehicles who were among the first to remove AM radio from their cars also contributed. Tesla used a portion of its $270,000 lobbying budget, while niche EV maker Rivian spent $40,000 in Q4.
One noteworthy disappearance: Toyota cut its AM radio lobbying altogether at the end of 2023 as support grew on Capitol Hill.
Despite the efforts of these automakers, the concentrated labor of state broadcast associations during a recent trip to Washington, D.C., to discuss policy matters with lawmakers proved very fruitful, showing the power that radio maintains.
The push to maintain AM radio in cars has even spread to state legislatures, with Kansas State Representatives overwhelmingly passing a resolution calling on federal government to pass the AM For Every Vehicle Act.
At present, the legislation is awaiting action on the Senate floor, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer yet to set a date for a formal vote.
