D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to Introduce Bill to Require Federal Agencies to Report Ad Expenditures
D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is working to accomplish what may not have been possible during the last Congress, reports The Charleston Chronicle, which added that Norton, who is in her 28th year in Congress, plans to reintroduce H.R. 7215 which would require all government agencies to report on expenditures for contracts for advertisement and other purposes.
She first introduced it last fall and it was referred to the House Committee on Budget, but the 115th Congress then went into recess.
According to the report in The Charleston Chronicle: “The new Democratic-controlled 116th Congress should afford Norton the opportunity to push through her resolution and perhaps gain a voting-member’s support to enact legislation.” The report added: “Because of her relentless pursuit, Norton was able to obtain a new Government Accountability Office report that concluded that, of the $5 billion spent on advertising by federal agencies over the past decade, just $50 million went to Black-owned businesses.
“The report didn’t detail how much of the $50 million went to Black newspaper owners, only that they were included among all black businesses.”
Norton said her bill would specifically require federal agencies to include in their annual budget requests to Congress the amount they spent in the most recent fiscal year on advertising contracts with newspapers and media companies owned by minorities and women, as well as projections of such spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Congresswoman also sent letters to all 12 appropriations subcommittees, requesting that they require each agency under their jurisdiction to include this advertising data in their budget requests.
“The federal government is the largest advertiser in the United States, and it has an obligation to ensure fair access to its contracts for minority and women-owned newspapers and media companies,” Norton said.
More here.
Photo: Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA
