Media Execs Support Reinstatement of Tax Certificate Pgm

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, September 22, 2021 | 5:14pm CT

U.S. Congress

A letter from media executives to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is supporting the reinstatement of a tax certificate program to encourage investment in radio and TV broadcast station ownership for women and people of color. The media executives serve as the dean and associate deans of the Broadcast Leadership Training program, an Executive-MBA style program that exposes broadcasters who aspire to advance as group executives or station owners, particularly women and people of color, the fundamentals of purchasing, owning and running a successful broadcast operation.

The letter offers support for H.R. 4871, the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act of 2021 introduced by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) and Steven Horsford (D-NV-4), and S.2456, the Broadcast VOICES Act introduced by Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The bills would authorize the FCC to re-establish a Diversity Tax Certificate Program, which would provide a tax incentive to those who sold their majority interest in a radio or television station to underrepresented broadcasters.

NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith previously said in a statement, "NAB and its members are strongly committed to market-based initiatives that expand radio and television station ownership opportunities for women and people of color. A tax incentive program is a proven solution that significantly diversified the ranks of broadcast owners over its nearly two decades of existence. Broadcasters thank Reps. Butterfield and Horsford and Sens. Peters and Menendez for introducing legislation that would reinstate the program and we urge swift passage of this important initiative this year."