All 50 state broadcasters associations, plus those representing the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have signed a letter sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and Congressional leaders in the House and Senate in support of H.R. 8072 and S. 4158, the “Broadcast VOICES Act.”
Introduced by Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the Broadcast VOICES Act would reestablish a diversity tax certificate program to incentivize capital investment in women and minority-owned broadcast stations, as well as investment in the sale of stations to women and minority purchasers, throughout the broadcast industry.
In the letter, it is stated that diverse ownership “has drastically changed not due to lack of effort or interest, but due to lack of access to capital.” Currently, women make up less than 6% of broadcast TV station owners and people of color make up less than 3%. “When it comes to broadcast radio station owners, women make up around 7% of owners and people of color make up less than 3%,” the SBAs note.
They also played up their belief that broadcasters “provide an invaluable resource to all communities, serving as a local and trusted source for news and information across the country.”
The SBAs continued, “Our strength is in our ability to cover diverse community experiences and tell stories from an authentic perspective. 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. Additionally, the Broadcast VOICES Act will 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. We therefore urge Congress to act swiftly and pass H.R. 8072 and S. 4158 to make sure that all voices are accurately represented in the broadcasting industry.”
Congressional Republicans and the two Republicans on the FCC have been cool to the return of a minority tax certificate.
