FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 16, 2009

Contact: Tracy Rosenberg

(510) 684-6853

Local Community Radio Act Clears House of Representatives

The Local Community Radio Act (H.R 1147) passed the House of Representatives today with a resounding voice vote. The bill – if passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama - will open the airwaves for hundreds of new non-commercial stations across the country, bringing low power radio to urban areas for the first time.

The House of Representatives voted to remove technical restrictions Congress placed on low power radio in 2000 at the request of commercial broadcasters. These restrictions have kept low power radio out of the top 50 radio markets, which reach over 160 million Americans.

“The time has come to make the airwaves available to the people they serve. The time has come to give low power to the people,” said lead cosponsor Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA).

After the bill passes the Senate, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can finally move forward with the low power radio service, licensing 100-watt stations to community groups nationwide. Due to the Congressional restrictions, the FCC was forced to dismiss most of the thousands of applications filed in 2000 by non-profits, churches, schools, and local governments.

Today’s vote marks the closest the Local Community Radio Act has been to becoming law since it was first introduced in 2005.

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