As 2017 comes to a close, the congressional funding debate for 2018 funding, including public media funding, will continue into the New Year.
2017 Successes
This year, you sent more than 436,000 messages to Congress and over 320,000 new advocates joined our Action Network.
Thanks to your ongoing action, public media has achieved solid congressional support.
Where We Are Now
Congress has approved a series of short-term funding bills to keep the government operational. Final decisions about Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 funding still need to be made early next year, but thanks to your ongoing action, public media funding is in a good position. Here is a quick review of where funding for your local stations stands today:
The House
The House passed a 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 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.
What’s next?
Congress needs to act to finalize FY 2018 funding early next year. To continue to protect public media funding, it will be important for public broadcasting’s supporters and enthusiasts to take action and tell lawmakers that we value public media.
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.
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