Recently released Senate draft legislation proposes increased public media funding – almost matching the House Appropriations Committee’s recommendations unveiled earlier this summer.

The Scoop About the Senate Proposals:

The Senate draft legislation proposes increases for the programs that enable your local stations to bring you the best noncommercial programming and services — including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Interconnection and Ready To Learn — while maintaining support for the Next Generation Warning System.

The Senate bills are not expected to be formally considered but could be used as baselines for final funding negotiations with the House of Representatives later this year.

The Latest House Action:

In June, the House Appropriations Committee approved legislation that also increased public media funding.

The House of Representatives could vote on the bills containing additional resources for public media this fall. If this happens, we’ll be closely watching for amendments targeting public media funding.

Ultimately, both chambers will need to agree on final funding levels before they can be enacted into law.

How You Can Support Increased Public Media Funding:

Listener and viewer outreach contributed to these strong initial proposals for public media in the House and Senate bills.

As funding decisions are finalized in the fall, it’s critical that we vocalize our support for investing in America’s 1,500+ public radio and television stations.

To support stronger stations today, you can:

• Subscribe to receive Protect My Public Media action alerts.
• Encourage your family and friends who value public media to join our action network.
  • Use the social media icons on this page to get started.
• Send a message encouraging your Members of Congress to support increased federal investments in public media.

Thank you, as always, for being part of this community. Without your support, we would be unable to achieve these milestones during the federal funding process.

If we continue to band together and make our voices heard, we can strengthen our local public radio and television stations for generations to come.