The effort to require AM to remain in vehicles sold in the U.S. has passed another legislative checkpoint. The bill that would ensure dashboards offer AM has secured the necessary 60 supporters in the Senate, ensuring it could overcome any potential hold on a floor vote. The milestone came in bipartisan fashion, as Senators Ashely Moody (R-FL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joined as co-sponsors in recent days.
If passed, the proposed AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S. 315) requires 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 who do not include AM would be required to put a warning label on vehicles. And carmakers would be prohibited from charging extra for AM.
Under the bill, automakers would have had 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. The proposal would also direct the Government Accountability Office to study whether alternative communication systems could fully replicate the reach and effectiveness of AM broadcast radio for alerting the public to emergencies.
The Senate bill is sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MA), who first joined forces in May 2023 on the effort. Both sit on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which in February approved the legislation just days after it was reintroduced during the current session of Congress. In a joint statement, Markey and Cruz says the addition of the 60th co-sponsor demonstrates the broad, bipartisan support for what they see as a “commonsense” proposal.
“From emergency response to sports, entertainment, and news, AM radio is a lifeline for tens of millions of Americans,” Cruz and Markey said, adding, “We are proud to fight for this legislation and ensure that AM radio can continue to play an important role in our constituents’ lives.”
A companion bill has also been introduced in the House (H.R.979) where 129 co-sponsors have also come out in favor of the proposal.
The filibuster-proof number of co-sponsors puts the bill on the same footing as during the prior session of Congress. But it doesn’t assure the legislation will be brought to the floor for a vote. That decision will be put to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who is not among the co-sponsors.
The legislation has the support of state broadcasters’ associations representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. A resolution adopted in March by state associations highlights the role that radio plays during emergencies, particularly AM’s status as the backbone of the Emergency Alert System with the vast majority of Primary Entry Points (PEPs) across the country on the AM dial. They also note that AM can reach large swaths of rural listeners, as well as people in cars during an emergency and many who don’t have English proficiency.
The resolution also points out that including AM in new electric vehicles models is “neither especially costly nor technically complex to achieve,” noting that many EVs already include the listening option.