PIERRE, S.D.(DRGNews)- South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined with his counterparts in 16 other states to encourage Congress to pass legislation that would keep AM radios in new vehicles at no extra charge to consumers.

Jackley says AM radio serves an important in rural states such as South Dakota.

Jackely says so far, automobile manufacturers haven’t approached the group to try to sway their support– yet.

Vehicle manufacturers have frequently tied the removal of AM radios from their products to the signal interfering with electric vehicles. Jackley says that’s not so much of the issue in South Dakota.

In a letter to the Electric Drive Transportation Association and the Zero Emission Transportation Association, the State Attorneys General said removing AM radio from electric cars would threaten the radio industry. They also wrote, “The decision to eliminate AM radios is even more problematic in light of the Biden Administration’s goal of ‘having 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.’”

Other state Attorneys General that are part of this effort are from Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate have introduced separate AM For Every Vehicle legislation. South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds is one of the sponsors of the Senate version, while South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson has signed on in support of a resolution in support of keeping AM radios in vehicles. Listeners can show their support as well by filling out a form on the website http://whyilisten.com.