PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 4, 2017
Expanding Broadcast Ownership Opportunities Act of 2017
This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 and the Internal Revenue Code to reestablish a tax certificate program under which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certifies a person's sale of an interest in a broadcast station to socially and economically disadvantaged minorities or women in order for the seller to elect to treat the sale as an involuntary conversion for which no gain is recognized for tax purposes or as an unrecognized gain to reduce the basis for determining gain or loss subject to an allowance for a depreciation deduction.
The FCC must adopt rules for the issuance of such certificates to: (1) limit the value of an interest the sale of which qualifies for such a certificate, (2) establish a minimum holding period following the sale during which the broadcast station must remain owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, (3) limit the total number or value of sales for which a person may be issued certificates, and (4) require participation by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in the management of the broadcast station.
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The FCC must report on: (1) recommendations to increase the total number of broadcast stations owned or controlled by minority groups or women, (2) annual sales for which certificates have been issued, (3) whether to expand the tax certificate program beyond broadcast stations to other FCC-regulated entities, and (4) whether there is a nexus between diversity of ownership or control of broadcast stations and diversity of the viewpoints broadcast by the stations.
The FCC must also establish a five-year pilot incubator program to grant waivers from ownership rules (local radio ownership rules, local television multiple ownership rules, or radio-television cross-ownership rules) to licensees to enable them to acquire an otherwise prohibited interest in a broadcast station owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
People & committees
Rep. Butterfield, G. K. [D-NC-1] · D–NC
Legislative record
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Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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