A House Republican appropriator is teaming up with Democrats to oppose a $1.1 billion budget cut that would virtually eliminate taxpayer funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Rep. Mark Amodei, Nevada Republican and a senior appropriator, issued a joint statement Monday with Rep. Dan Goldman, New York Democrat, in opposition to the plan to rescind funding for the CPB, which funds public media outlets like NPR and PBS and local affiliates.
The House is set to vote this week on a rescissions package that will claw back $9.4 billion in funding that Congress previously approved. It includes the $1.1 billion for the CPB and $8.3 billion in foreign aid.
Mr. Amodei and Mr. Goldman, who co-chair the Public Broadcasting Caucus, said eliminating federal funding for public broadcasting would take away the only reliable media source for many rural areas.
“Of the 544 radio and television stations that receive federal funding, 245 serve rural communities and collectively support more than 5,950 local jobs,” Mr. Amodei and Mr. Goldman said. “Rural broadcasters face significant challenges in raising private funds, making them particularly vulnerable if government funding is cut.”
The lawmakers said “legitimate concerns about content” and objectivity should be addressed, but that cutting off all public broadcast funding — except for services like Amber alerts and tornado warnings — is not the solution.
“Public broadcasting represents less than 0.01% of the federal budget, yet its impact reaches every congressional district,” Mr. Amodei and Mr. Goldman said. “Cutting this funding will not meaningfully reduce the deficit, but it will dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.”
