I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3957 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to take certain actions 
to increase diversity of ownership in the broadcasting industry, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2019 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CA´RDENAS, 
Mr. RUSH, Mr. VEASEY, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Federal Communications Commission to take 
certain actions to increase diversity of ownership in the 
broadcasting industry, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Broadcast 
Ownership Opportunities Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) One of the main missions of the Federal 
Communications Commission, and a compelling gov-
ernmental interest, is to ensure that there is a diver-
sity of ownership and viewpoints in the broadcasting 
industry. 
(2) The Commission should continue to collect 
relevant data and conduct studies on such diversity 
and make appropriate recommendations to Congress 
on how to increase the number of minority- and 
women-owned broadcast stations. 
(3) Data from 2014 shows that, of the over 
1,700 commercial broadcast television stations in the 
United States, less than 6 percent are owned by 
women, and less than 3 percent are minority-owned. 
With respect to radio stations, women owned ap-
proximately 7 percent of FM broadcast radio sta-
tions, and minorities owned less than 3 percent of 
such stations. 
(4) Women and minority ownership is 5 to 10 
times higher in other industries than in the broad-
casting industry. 
(5) During the 17 years that a minority tax 
certificate program was in place at the Commission 
(from 1978 to 1995), the Commission issued 287 
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certificates for radio stations and 40 certificates for 
television stations. 
(6) The Commission can also support minority- 
and women-owned entrants into the broadcasting in-
dustry by implementing an incubator program in 
which existing licensees assist new entrants in the 
operation of broadcast stations. 
SEC. 3. FCC REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
(a) BIENNIAL REPORT CONTAINING RECOMMENDA-
TIONS
FOR INCREASING NUMBER
OF MINORITY- AND 
WOMEN-OWNED BROADCAST STATIONS.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
not less frequently than every 2 years thereafter, the Com-
mission shall submit to Congress a report containing rec-
ommendations for how to increase the total number of 
broadcast stations that are owned or controlled by mem-
bers of minority groups or women, or by both members 
of minority groups and women. 
(b) BIENNIAL REPORT ON NUMBER OF MINORITY- 
AND WOMEN-OWNED BROADCAST STATIONS.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and not less frequently than every 2 years thereafter, the 
Commission shall submit to Congress a report that states 
the total number of broadcast stations that are owned or 
controlled by members of minority groups or women, or 
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by both members of minority groups and women, based 
on data reported to the Commission on Form 323. 
SEC. 4. TAX CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR BROADCAST STA-
TION TRANSACTIONS FURTHERING OWNER-
SHIP BY SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVID-
UALS. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE 
BY FCC.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Part I of title III of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 344. TAX CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR BROADCAST 
STATION TRANSACTIONS FURTHERING OWN-
ERSHIP BY SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDI-
VIDUALS. 
‘‘(a) ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE BY COMMISSION.— 
Upon application by a person who engages in a sale of 
an interest in a broadcast station described in subsection 
(b), subject to the rules adopted by the Commission under 
subsection (c), the Commission shall issue to such person 
a certificate stating that such sale meets the requirements 
of this section. 
‘‘(b) SALES DESCRIBED.—The sales described in this 
subsection are the following: 
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‘‘(1) SALE RESULTING IN OR PRESERVING OWN-
ERSHIP
BY
SOCIALLY
DISADVANTAGED
INDIVID-
UALS.—A sale of an interest in a broadcast station 
if, immediately following the sale, the station is 
owned by socially disadvantaged individuals (regard-
less of whether the station was owned by socially 
disadvantaged individuals before the sale). 
‘‘(2) SALE BY INVESTOR IN STATION OWNED BY 
SOCIALLY
DISADVANTAGED
INDIVIDUALS.—In the 
case of a person who has contributed capital in ex-
change for an interest in a broadcast station that is 
owned by socially disadvantaged individuals, a sale 
by such person of some or all of such interest. 
‘‘(c) RULES.—The Commission shall adopt rules for 
the issuance of a certificate under subsection (a) that pro-
vide for the following: 
‘‘(1) LIMIT ON VALUE OF SALE.—A limit on the 
value of an interest the sale of which qualifies for 
the issuance of such a certificate. The limit shall be 
no lower than $10,000,000 and no higher than 
$50,000,000. 
‘‘(2) MINIMUM HOLDING PERIOD.—In the case 
of a sale described in subsection (b)(1), a minimum 
period following the sale during which the broadcast 
station must remain owned by socially disadvantaged 
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individuals. The minimum period shall be no longer 
than 3 years. 
‘‘(3) CUMULATIVE
LIMIT
ON
NUMBER
OR 
VALUE OF SALES.—A limit on the total number of 
sales or the total value of sales, or both, for which 
a person may be issued certificates under subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(4) PARTICIPATION IN STATION MANAGEMENT 
BY
SOCIALLY
DISADVANTAGED
INDIVIDUALS.—Re-
quirements for participation by socially disadvan-
taged individuals in the management of the broad-
cast station. 
‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Commis-
sion shall submit to Congress an annual report describing 
the sales for which certificates have been issued under sub-
section (a) during the period covered by the report. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) OWNED BY SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED IN-
DIVIDUALS.—The term ‘owned by socially disadvan-
taged individuals’ means, with respect to a broadcast 
station, that— 
‘‘(A) such station is at least 51 percent 
owned by one or more socially disadvantaged in-
dividuals, or, in the case of any publicly owned 
broadcast station, at least 51 percent of the 
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stock of such station is owned by one or more 
socially disadvantaged individuals; and 
‘‘(B) the management and daily business 
operations of such station are controlled by one 
or more of such individuals. 
‘‘(2) SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUAL.— 
The term ‘socially disadvantaged individual’ means a 
woman or an individual who has been subjected to 
racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of 
the identity of the individual as a member of a 
group without regard to the individual qualities of 
the individual.’’. 
(2) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF RULES.—The 
Commission shall adopt rules to implement section 
344 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added 
by paragraph (1), not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON PROGRAM EX-
PANSION.—Not later than 6 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall sub-
mit to Congress a report regarding whether Con-
gress should expand section 344 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934, as added by paragraph (1), be-
yond broadcast stations to cover other entities regu-
lated by the Commission. 
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(4) EXAMINATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS 
ON
NEXUS
BETWEEN
DIVERSITY
OF
OWNERSHIP 
AND DIVERSITY OF VIEWPOINT.— 
(A) EXAMINATION.—Not later than 60 
days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Commission shall initiate an examina-
tion of whether there is a nexus between diver-
sity of ownership or control of broadcast sta-
tions (including ownership or control by mem-
bers of minority groups or women, or by both 
members of minority groups and women) and 
diversity of the viewpoints expressed in the mat-
ter broadcast by broadcast stations. 
(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Commission shall submit to Con-
gress a report on the findings of the Commis-
sion in the examination under subparagraph 
(A), including supporting data. 
(b) NONRECOGNITION OF GAIN OR LOSS FOR TAX 
PURPOSES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter O of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
inserting after part IV the following new part: 
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‘‘PART V—SALE OF INTEREST IN CERTAIN 
BROADCAST STATIONS 
‘‘SEC. 1071. NONRECOGNITION OF GAIN OR LOSS FROM 
SALE OF INTEREST IN CERTAIN BROADCAST 
STATIONS. 
‘‘(a) NONRECOGNITION OF GAIN OR LOSS.—If a sale 
of an interest in a broadcast station, within the meaning 
of section 344 of the Communications Act of 1934, is cer-
tified by the Federal Communications Commission under 
such section, such sale shall, if the taxpayer so elects, be 
treated as an involuntary conversion of such property 
within the meaning of section 1033. For purposes of such 
section as made applicable by the provisions of this sec-
tion, stock of a corporation operating a broadcast station 
shall be treated as property similar or related in service 
or use to the property so converted. The part of the gain, 
if any, on such sale to which section 1033 is not applied 
shall nevertheless not be recognized, if the taxpayer so 
elects, to the extent that it is applied to reduce the basis 
for determining gain or loss on any such sale, of a char-
acter subject to the allowance for depreciation under sec-
tion 167, remaining in the hands of the taxpayer imme-
diately after the sale, or acquired in the same taxable year. 
The manner and amount of such reduction shall be deter-
mined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Any 
election made by the taxpayer under this section shall be 
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made by a statement to that effect in his return for the 
taxable year in which the sale takes place, and such elec-
tion shall be binding for the taxable year and all subse-
quent taxable years. 
‘‘(b) MINIMUM HOLDING PERIOD; CONTINUED MAN-
AGEMENT.—If— 
‘‘(1) there is nonrecognition of gain or loss to 
a taxpayer under this section with respect to a sale 
of property (determined without regard to this para-
graph), and 
‘‘(2) the taxpayer ceases to fulfill any require-
ments of the rules adopted by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission under paragraph (2) or (4) of 
section 344(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 
(as such rules are in effect on the date of such sale), 
there shall be no nonrecognition of gain or loss under this 
section to the taxpayer with respect to such sale, except 
that any gain or loss recognized by the taxpayer by reason 
of this subsection shall be taken into account as of the 
date on which the taxpayer so ceases to fulfill such re-
quirements. 
‘‘(c) BASIS.—For basis of property acquired on a sale 
treated as an involuntary conversion under subsection (a), 
see section 1033(b).’’. 
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(2) CLERICAL
AMENDMENT.—The table of 
parts for subchapter O of chapter 1 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 
the item related to part IV the following new part: 
‘‘PART V—SALE OF INTEREST IN CERTAIN BROADCAST STATIONS 
‘‘Section 1071. Nonrecognition of gain or loss from sale of interest in certain 
broadcast stations.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to sales of interests 
in broadcast stations after the date that is 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) SUNSET.—The amendments made by this section 
shall not apply with respect to sales of interests in broad-
cast stations after the date that is 16 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. INCUBATOR PROGRAM. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Commission shall amend its Report 
and Order in the matter of rules and policies to promote 
new entry and ownership diversity in the broadcasting 
services, MB Docket No. 17–289, FCC 18–114, adopted 
on August 2, 2018, to do the following: 
(1) Expand the incubator program provided for 
in such Report and Order to permit a licensee to 
provide financial support or operational support, or 
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both, to a qualifying incubated entity that owns or 
wants to own a television broadcast station. 
(2) Expand the eligibility criteria for an incu-
bated entity under such program to include broad-
cast stations owned by socially disadvantaged indi-
viduals. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) BROADCAST STATION.—The term ‘‘broad-
cast station’’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 153). 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Communications Commission. 
(3) OWNED BY SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED IN-
DIVIDUALS.—The term ‘‘owned by socially disadvan-
taged individuals’’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 344 of the Communications Act of 1934, 
as added by section 4. 
Æ 
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