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Issue Brief: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Access to the Arts for All

ACTION NEEDED
We urge Congress to reject the proposed funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in the FY07 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

TALKING POINTS

• Any reduction in CPB’s budget would drastically reduce the access that many Americans have to public broadcasting, and thus to high-quality arts and cultural programming.
• Public television is often the only source of arts programming in many rural parts of the country. CPB supports public television through its partner, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). A trusted community resource, PBS brings quality programs and education services to nearly 100 million people each week. With community-based arts programming and nationally televised shows, PBS is often the only source of arts programming in many rural parts of the country.
• Public television airs arts programming that is not available on commercial television. For example, the Legends of Jazz television series on PBS marks the first time in 40 years that jazz has been the focus of a national network weekly series. Hosted by noted jazz pianist and radio personality Ramsey Lewis, the 13 weekly 30-minute episodes will debut in April 2006 on PBS stations nationwide.
• Budget cuts would weaken National Public Radio (NPR) stations and thus the availability of high-quality arts programming. Budget cuts would impact public radio broadcasting, as CPB funding represents an average of 13 percent of the budget for individual member stations of NPR. If NPR loses CPB support, many stations will have to make severe cuts to their programming and local services. This will especially impact rural areas and stations serving minority populations, as they heavily rely on federal funding for their operating budgets. While local and state arts agencies also support these stations, they could not make up for a loss of federal funding on this scale.

BACKGROUND
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) supports public television through its partner, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). PBS is a private, nonprofit enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 348 public television stations.

General appropriations for CPB typically are “advance-funded,” meaning that each appropriations year is actually funding CPB two years in advance. For example, the FY06 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill approved funding for FY06, FY07, and FY08. In addition, Congress provides funding for several other programs that assist public broadcasting with catching up to the changes in technology and demands of an aging satellite system.

The administration has proposed rescinding already-approved FY07 and FY08 funding, for a total of $157 million in cuts. Last year, the Senate voted to fund all of these programs. The House, however, approved cuts at the subcommittee level, eliminating $100 million in general FY06 appropriations. The subcommittee also cut $39 million to help local stations switch to digital transmission, $40 million to upgrade satellite technology, and $23 million from the "Ready to Learn" program, as well as $400 million for advance FY08 funding. The full House Appropriations Committee restored the advance FY08 appropriations, and then the full House voted to restore the $100 million general appropriations for FY06. Subsequently, the House acceded to the Senate figures in conference committee, and thus CPB suffered no cuts in the final FY06 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

Below is our specific request for support for public broadcasting funding:

• CPB General Appropriations - $430 million for FY09
  Congress advance-funds CPB general appropriations by two years. Local stations receive programming and operations funding support through CPB’s Community Service Grant (CSG) program.
• CPB Digital Funding - $40 million for FY07
  Public television stations have raised over $1.1 billion to pay for the federally mandated conversion to digital broadcast technology. Although about two-thirds of that funding has derived from nonfederal sources, the federal contribution has been instrumental in attracting state and private funding. CPB digital funding this year will ensure that stations build out their infrastructure and provide new digital content.
• CPB Interconnection - $36 million for FY07
  Congress has periodically funded public broadcasting interconnection systems. The current satellite interconnection system, which Congress funded in the early 1990s, is due to expire in late FY06. Congress has provided two years of funding for the Next Generation Interconnection System (NGIS) to replace the current system. NGIS will fully harness digital technology, and will also play a key role in providing emergency telecommunications capabilities to meet homeland security needs. The FY07 request, if funded, represents the final request for public television’s new interconnection system.
• Ready to Learn - $32 million for FY07
  The Ready to Learn service funds scientifically researched, literacy-based educational “PBS Kids” programming, and also supports local partnerships to foster community participation around reading advocacy. Ready to Learn embodies the positive relationship between children’s viewing of high-quality educational programming and the advancement of literacy in very young children.
• Ready to Teach - $15 million for FY07
  The goal of Ready to Teach is to improve K–12 student performance by investing in teacher professional development. Ready to Teach has funded PBS TeacherLine, providing online resources for teachers seeking quality professional development that is easily accessible; flexible; and tailored to local, state, and national standards.  Ready to Teach has also funded multiyear grants to local stations to develop educational digital content.