Attached is the more expansive overview of the issue and the threat it presents to our member stations that I referenced below. – Oscar
NASBA: I look forward to visiting with you on our monthly call this Thursday. As Susan Reinhart noted in her agenda transmittal email, I’m following up on one of the items listed, Form 395-B, the Annual Employment Report. For all the reasons laid out below, NASBA will be considering undertaking a significant legal challenge to the FCC which would require each SBA to contribute some degree of funding based on state population size within the coming months. (We’ll discuss NAB’s position on the matter and ability to participate during the call.)
When Form 395-B was in place, it required that each Radio and Television station collect data on the gender, race, ethnicity and job function of each station employee. Compliance was costly and complex, NASBA sued successfully, the FCC suspended use of the form, and we’ve been in the current EEO reporting regime ever since.
What follows is a relatively condensed overview of the matter, including the challenges this rule presented to our member stations when it was in effect. It was prepared by Lauren Lynch Flick. (She and Scott Flick were with Pillsbury’s predecessor law firm that handled the original 395-B lawsuit.) Please review this summary carefully in advance of our call on Thursday so you can have any questions at the ready. A more expansive overview will be available that we can share with our Boards for further consideration.
