On June 13 the full House Appropriations Committee voted to restore $20 million of the previously-planned $115 million cuts to funding for public broadcasting, but left the remainder of the cuts in place in the FY2007 budget bill making its way through the House.
Although the restoration of $20 million in FY 2007 funds is a welcome development, the committee left intact nearly $100 million in cuts to all of the other public broadcasting programs funded in this bill: CPB digital, interconnection, and Ready To Learn and Ready To Teach, No funds were provided for Ready to Learn and Ready to Teach, two critical early learning educational programs. Moreover, no advance appropriation for FY 2009 was included in the bill?which, if left unchallenged either on the House floor or in the Senate, would represent the first time two-year advance funding will not have been approved since the practice was begun 30 years ago.
Mike Riksen, NPR's vice president for government relations, said the cuts could also affect the distribution of programming to audiences and could hinder smaller TV and radio stations, particularly their ability to switch to digital programming.
"Aside from jeopardizing important programs, I think ultimately the impact of the committee's failure to restore all parts of public broadcasting funding will most severely affect rural communities," he said.
In a statement after the committee vote, John Lawson, President and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations, commented:
"It's a shame that a majority of the House Appropriations Committee has decided to put Congress through another fight over funding for public broadcasting. All of public broadcasting is disappointed that they did this despite the overwhelming support expressed for us by the public and their colleagues in Congress last year."
