These radio ads in Myrtle Beach want Rep. Tom Rice to vote yes on infrastructure bill
Two national advocacy groups plan to launch radio advertisements in 13 states in the coming weeks targeting six Democrats and nine Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, urging them to vote in favor of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package.
Among those being targeted? Rep. Tom Rice, the Myrtle Beach Republican representing the Northeastern corner of South Carolina.
The groups — the Transportation Construction Coalition and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led Americans for Transportation Mobility — are launching the ads to urge members of the House to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that would help fund things like roads, bridges and internet connectivity. The Transportation Construction Coalition is a group made up of 33 individual associations and labor unions that lobby the federal government to spend money on construction and infrastructure projects. The Americans for Transportation Mobility group lobbies for “a robust transportation infrastructure grid” in the United States.
The six-figure ad purchase will see 600 radio spots broadcast in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Missouri and Nevada and target lawmakers who have been critical of the infrastructure package. Missouri progressive Rep. Cori Bush (D-St. Louis), for example, has been critical of Congress voting on the bipartisan infrastructure bill before it votes on the larger spending package Biden is pushing for. Others, like Pennsylvania Republican Lloyd Smucker (R-Harrisburg), have criticized the size of the package.
In Rice’s district, the ads will be broadcast a total of 40 times on WFRK-FM and WRNN-FM for a cost of $6,500, according to John Schneidawind, the vice president for public affairs for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association. Both stations broadcast conservative talk radio programs.
Listen to the ad here:
“Imagine if you could buy a stock that tripled your money, guaranteed. You’d be a fool not to invest, right?” the ads in Rice’s district will say. “That’s why Rep. Rice must help pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Every new dollar spent on highways and transit returns more than triple the investment in jobs and economic activity. Investing in South Carolina means investing in transportation.”
The ad ends by listing a phone number listeners are encouraged to call to ask Rice to vote yes on the bill.
Schneidawind added that the group expects the ads to be heard collectively in Myrtle Beach and Florence by 147,000 listeners.
It’s not clear at present how Rice might vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package. He’s come out forcefully against the related $2 trillion spending package the Biden administration is pushing for but has remained more tight-lipped on the infrastructure package.
Rice did not return a request for comment on Thursday on how he may vote on the infrastructure bill.
Schneidawind said Rice and the other 14 lawmakers are being targeted by the ads because the groups view them as “key but reluctant votes on the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act.” Schneidawind noted that the package has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
“The group is taking this action now because the transportation infrastructure bill ... has been held up in the House due to disagreements about the larger budget reconciliation package – the huge spending package Biden is pushing called the Build Back Better Plan,” Schneidawind said. “Meanwhile, spending authority to build or fix the nation’s highways, bridges and transit systems runs out on Oct. 31. It has been extended one month already.”
He added: “As a result, state transportation department across the country are working on an ad hoc basis when it comes to transportation infrastructure. That’s no way to run a railroad, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
