On March 9, NAB announced that nine additional lawmakers have signed on to a bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives resolution opposing the introduction of "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local radio stations. The growing chorus of support for The Local Radio Freedom Act now stands at 144.

Reps. Corrine Brown (FL-03), Ander Crenshaw (FL-04), Artur Davis (AL-07), Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08), Jack Kingston (GA-01), Solomon Ortiz (TX-27), Bill Posey (FL-15), Tim Ryan (OH-17) and Rob Wittman (VA-01) all have all added their support to the Local Radio Freedom Act, bringing the total bipartisan support to 144 House lawmakers.

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on March 10 on H.R. 848, the Performance Rights Act, introduced by Rep. Conyers (MI-14). NAB Radio Board Chair Steve Newberry testified on behalf of NAB, and Larry Patrick, managing partner with Patrick Communications LLC, also testified in his capacity as a media broker. Click here to view highlights of the testimony.

In conjunction with the hearing, NAB ran a new print advertisement in Capitol Hill publication POLITICO and Congress Daily highlighting the impact a performance tax would have on the music local radio stations play. The NAB ad features the “Performance Tax Hot 100” chart, which contains no music.

"Radio is where listeners discover new music and new artists. It's where the artists you love got their big breaks. But the record labels are pushing a bill that would levy a fee, or 'performance tax,' on the music local radio plays. That means radio stations will inevitably play less music and stop taking chances on unknown artists. The performance tax; bad for radio, bad for music," the ad reads.

Click here to view the ad.