A group of 22 House Democrats sent a letter Friday to House leadership, urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues to refrain from moving performance tax legislation to the floor for a vote until the impact of the bill can be determined.
“We are … concerned by the assertions that this bill will unfairly divert money from our local communities and direct those funds primarily to large record labels,” stated the lawmakers. Opponents led by the National Association of Broadcasters have been making these assertions.
Many of those signing Friday’s letter are members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats, including Reps. Heath Shuler, N.C.; Mike Ross, Ark.; Charlie Melancon, La.; and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, S.D.
The letter, as provided by NAB, is here in PDF form.
Meanwhile, Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz. and Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., have added their support to the Local Radio Freedom Act, a resolution opposing the performance royalty on radio stations. The Local Radio Freedom Act is supported by a bipartisan group of 246 House members and 23 senators, according to NAB.
