The Media Line: Faith-Based and Independent Broadcasters Welcome US House Majority Support for Local Radio Freedom Act 

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Faith-Based and Independent Broadcasters Welcome US House Majority Support for Local Radio Freedom Act

By The Media Line Staff

A bipartisan majority of the US House has now cosponsored the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA), formally signaling broad congressional opposition to imposing a new performance tax on local broadcast radio.

In the past day, the LRFA crossed the key threshold of 218 House cosponsors, with 219 members now backing the resolution, giving it a clear bipartisan House majority. The act also has 26 supporters in the US Senate, reflecting bicameral resistance to any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or similar charge on local radio stations beyond what they already pay for copyrights and songwriting.

In the House, the resolution is led by Rep. Steve Womack and Rep. Kathy Castor, while Sens. John Barrasso and Maggie Hassan anchor support in the Senate. Industry groups including the National Religious Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters publicly hailed the majority milestone.

Supporters argue that a performance tax would disproportionately strain small, independent, faith-based, and educational stations that run on thin margins and provide free, over-the-air service. They emphasize that local radio delivers news, emergency alerts, weather, traffic, and music discovery at no cost to listeners, and warn that new fees could undercut these public services and reduce opportunities for artists.

LRFA is a nonbinding concurrent resolution. Similar resolutions have repeatedly drawn large bipartisan coalitions in previous Congresses, suggesting sustained congressional reluctance to add new music performance charges on local stations.

NRB expressed appreciation to the more than 219 bipartisan members of the US House who have signed on as cosponsors of the Local Radio Freedom Act and said it remains committed to backing efforts that safeguard the essential role local radio plays in communities nationwide.