Wednesday, June 14, 2006
U.S. House Committee approves 17% CPB reduction
From Patricia Harrison, CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...
Today, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2007
Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Bill that provides funding for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The legislation approved by the full Appropriations Committee this
morning increases the Labor-HHS Subcommittee's initial FY 2007
allocation for CPB from $380 million to $400 million. It does not
contain an advance appropriation for FY 2009 or additional funding in FY
2007 for digital conversion or television interconnection (CPB would be
permitted to use a portion of its FY 2007 regular appropriation for
these purposes). In addition, the bill eliminates funding for Ready To
Learn (RTL). If enacted, the proposed FY 2007 funding levels would
represent a 17.4% reduction from CPB's FY 2006 levels.
While we appreciate the committee's efforts in restoring $20 million of
the $104.5 million in cuts originally proposed by the subcomittee, and
understand the difficult choices confronting the Appropriations
Committee, CPB is committed to working with our partners in the public
broadcasting community to make the case for the funding levels in our
original request.
This request represents both a strong commitment to fiscal restraint and
a firm understanding of the value and service that public broadcasting
offers our country and our local communities. Anything less than
full-funding will not only present public broadcasting with an unfunded
federal mandate to convert to digital broadcasting, it will also
undermine its ability to both offer essential educational services and
provide a backbone for a national emergency alert system.
The next step for the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriatoins Bill is
consideration by the full House of Representatives, with action possible
as early as next week. The Senate is not expected to begin
consideration of its version of the bill until July at the earliest.
Once both chambers have passed their respective bills, a conference
committee will meet to craft a final, compromise version.
Today, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2007
Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations Bill that provides funding for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The legislation approved by the full Appropriations Committee this
morning increases the Labor-HHS Subcommittee's initial FY 2007
allocation for CPB from $380 million to $400 million. It does not
contain an advance appropriation for FY 2009 or additional funding in FY
2007 for digital conversion or television interconnection (CPB would be
permitted to use a portion of its FY 2007 regular appropriation for
these purposes). In addition, the bill eliminates funding for Ready To
Learn (RTL). If enacted, the proposed FY 2007 funding levels would
represent a 17.4% reduction from CPB's FY 2006 levels.
While we appreciate the committee's efforts in restoring $20 million of
the $104.5 million in cuts originally proposed by the subcomittee, and
understand the difficult choices confronting the Appropriations
Committee, CPB is committed to working with our partners in the public
broadcasting community to make the case for the funding levels in our
original request.
This request represents both a strong commitment to fiscal restraint and
a firm understanding of the value and service that public broadcasting
offers our country and our local communities. Anything less than
full-funding will not only present public broadcasting with an unfunded
federal mandate to convert to digital broadcasting, it will also
undermine its ability to both offer essential educational services and
provide a backbone for a national emergency alert system.
The next step for the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriatoins Bill is
consideration by the full House of Representatives, with action possible
as early as next week. The Senate is not expected to begin
consideration of its version of the bill until July at the earliest.
Once both chambers have passed their respective bills, a conference
committee will meet to craft a final, compromise version.
