Congress opens broadcast ownership to women and minorities via tax incentives
H.R. 3879 — Broadcast VOICES Act · Filed by Steven Horsford (D-NV) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 10, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the FCC to increase diversity of ownership in broadcasting by creating a tax-incentive program for sales of broadcast stations to women and minorities. It establishes a tax certificate program allowing sellers to defer or eliminate capital gains taxes on sales to socially disadvantaged owners (with a $50M per-sale cap), requires the FCC to issue biennial reports on minority and women ownership, and creates a tax credit for donations of broadcast stations to charitable training organizations. The bill aims to reverse decades of concentration: as of 2021, fewer than 6% of TV stations and 3% of radio stations are minority-owned.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a tax-incentive program (capital gains deferral and charitable contribution credits) designed to lower the financial barriers for women and minorities to acquire broadcast stations. It is fundamentally a targeted tax expenditure paired with FCC reporting and examination mandates.
What the text implies
- The tax certificate program allows sellers to defer capital gains indefinitely if reinvested in other broadcast properties, potentially creating a tax-avoidance loop for large media companies selling to minority-owned entities and then reacquiring through intermediaries.
- The 2-to-3-year minimum holding period for socially disadvantaged owners may be insufficient to prevent rapid resale or control transfer, especially if the definition of 'control' in FCC rules is weak.
- The $50M per-sale cap and annual cumulative limits (to be set by FCC rules) are not specified in the bill itself, creating regulatory uncertainty and potential for industry capture during rulemaking.
- The bill requires the FCC to examine the nexus between ownership diversity and viewpoint diversity but does not mandate action if no nexus is found, potentially weakening the policy's public-interest justification.
- Charitable contribution credit (Section 45BB) allows donors to claim fair-market-value credits without taking a deduction, creating a double benefit that may exceed the actual cost to the donor.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands opportunity for women and minorities to enter and own broadcast stations through tax incentives and FCC support, addressing documented underrepresentation in media ownership. While the tax benefits are narrowly targeted, they serve a documented public interest (diversity of viewpoints and ownership) and do not restrict citizens' rights or protections.
Who stands to gain
- Sellers of broadcast stations (capital gains tax deferral)
- Charitable organizations training socially disadvantaged individuals in broadcast management (tax cr
- Women and minority entrepreneurs acquiring broadcast stations (tax-deferred gains, reduced acquisiti
Named in the bill
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Broadcast stations (full-power commercial TV and radio), Socially disadvantaged individuals (women, racial/ethnic minorities), Section 346 of the Communications Act of 1934, Section 1071 of the Internal Revenue Code (new), Section 45BB of the Internal Revenue Code (new)
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jun 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 10, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,620,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 17 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Steven Horsford, the sponsor, reported $1,801,734 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Association of Broadcasters — $2,620,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (13,863 characters) on Aug 17, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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