Congress Approves Public Media Funding Through December

By Cait Beroza |

Congress

Late last week, the House and Senate passed a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government, including public media, fully funded through the beginning of December. Immediately after, the bill was signed into law by the President.

Thank you to everyone who contacted their lawmakers last week and over the last few months. Together, we’ve been able to show key decision makers that public media funding is a smart investment in communities, education, public safety, civic society, culture and more.

What’s Next?

Congress will debate funding again later this fall. To continue to protect funding, it will be important for us to remind lawmakers that we value public media when these negotiations take place.

We’ll alert you when we need your help. The best way to stay informed is to sign up for Protect My Public Media updates here.

Where We Are Now

Thanks to your ongoing action, public media funding is in a good position for the upcoming negotiations. Here’s where funding for your local stations stands today:

The House

The House passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 spending package that includes full funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Ready To Learn. The bill does not include funding for Interconnection.

The Senate

The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Ed) Subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2018 spending bill with full funding for all of public media’s programs. The Senate bill includes funding for public media’s essential Interconnection infrastructure system, which allows your stations to deliver the programming and public safety information you love and rely upon.

By joining the Protect My Public Media Action Network here, you can ensure that you’re informed as we begin to see movement on public media funding this fall.