Congress & White House Take Away Money For PBS & NPR
FROM THE ALASKA BEACON Alaska US senators split votes on cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid The bill would strip more than $20 mill...
FROM THE ALASKA BEACON
Alaska US senators split votes on cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid
The bill would strip more than $20 million from Alaska public media stations. Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski suggested possible funding for some stations through tribal grants.
Alaska Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (Alaska Beacon file photos)
Alaska’s two U.S. senators voted differently on a bill requested by President Donald Trump to block federal funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.
The cuts include $1.1 billion for public broadcasting over two years, with more than $20 million in funding for Alaska’s 27 public radio and television stations. The measure is known as a rescission package, because it claws back funding that Congress had already approved earlier this year.
The overall bill includes $9 billion in cuts, with most in foreign aid.
The bill passed 51 to 48, with Alaska’s Republican senators voted differently: U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan voted for the rescission, and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against.
Sullivan spokesperson Amanda Coyne sent a statement by email on Thursday repeating the senator’s position that he had warned public media, NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for years about their “biased reporting” that “would eventually jeopardize federal support for both national and local radio stations,” she said.
However, Coyne added, Sullivan has advocated for rural stations and has been working with other senators and White House officials on alternative sources of funding to keep rural stations on the air, particularly Native stations in Alaska.
“Currently, there is approximately $10 million available for tribal and Native stations in the country. Alaska has 11 Native stations. Going forward, Senator Sullivan will continue working to provide resources to support as many Alaska rural radio stations as possible. He was discussing this funding issue with a senior administration official this morning,” Coyne said.
Coyne did not respond to questions on how much would be available for Alaska stations, when, or what stations would be eligible.
Murkowski was outspoken and critical of the rescission bill, voting no.
In a statement on Thursday, she first cited a lack of clarity by the Trump administration for what programs and amounts would be rescinded, especially for global health programs. “We still lack necessary details, including which ones will be zeroed out. There is no way to determine the implications for lifesaving care and vital resources for women and children abroad,” she said.
“I also strongly oppose the rescission of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. My colleagues are targeting NPR but will wind up hurting – and, over time, closing down – local radio stations that provide essential news, alerts, and educational programming in Alaska and across the country,” she said.
Murkowski introduced an amendment on the Senate floor late Wednesday night to protect CPB funding, and it was voted down 51 to 47.
Murkowski told reporters on Thursday afternoon in an audio recording shared with the Alaska Beacon, when asked about the fate of rural stations in Alaska, that her office was also looking into funding for stations from federal tribal grants.
“Some of them, about a dozen, will be able to access these tribal grants,” she told the reporters.
“But that’s less than half of the Alaska stations. So what happens to KUCB going forward?” she said, referring to the public radio station in Unalaska that broadcast a tsunami warning and emergency evacuation order for remote Aleutian Island communities following a magnitude 7.3 earthquake the day before.
“So what we’re trying to do is kind of identify how perilously close are many of these small stations to being in a shut down mode. How much do they have to carry them forward?” she said.
In her statement, Murkowski emphasized her opposition to the rescission process, driven by the White House Office of Management and Budget, as undermining Congress’ authority.
“Finally, and most importantly, approving this package in this manner further shifts the balance of power over the federal budget to the executive branch. Congress, not OMB, holds the power of the purse under the Constitution. To the extent that certain appropriations are not necessary to comply with the laws passed by Congress, we can best address that through the annual budgeting process, where we routinely rescind funds every year.”
The rescission bill now advances back to the U.S. House, which passed an earlier version of the measure. As of Thursday evening it had not been taken up for a vote.
