TAMPA, Fla. — AM radio is used to listen to everything from high school sports to emergency information during hurricanes, but some are worried that access to AM radio is getting harder.
What You Need To Know
U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis said this legislation is important for Florida residents
Local radio host Roger P. Schulman said he supports this legislation
The most recent action on the bill was in September, where it got a 50-1 vote in favor of the bill by the Committee of Energy and Commerce
That’s why U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) introduced the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025.
For those in the industry, like Roger P. Schulman, he supports this legislation.
“During our last hurricanes, people told me we had no communication at all,” he said. “We lost power, the cell phones weren’t working, the internet was out. Only thing we could do was go in the garage, turn on the car, and listen to AM radio and get information.”
Roger said that while television, news site, newspapers, and FM radio all offer different levels of coverage during emergencies, he said AM radio is the most reliable.
With some cars now being made without AM radio built in, he worries people will get stuck in dangerous circumstances without access to information.
This bill will require new cars to have AM radio.
“A lot of the manufacturers, particularly Tesla and some of the electric car manufacturers, are coming out with cars without AM radios,” he said.
Bilirakis said he’s seeing this as well and wants community members across the country to have access to AM radio.
“There is a real threat by the car manufacturers that they take AM radio out of the cars,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. And I will tell you that I have a lot of constituents, more importantly for emergency purposes, but they love AM radio.”
The most recent action on the bill was in September.
It was a 50-1 vote in favor of the bill by the Committee of Energy and Commerce.