Despite repeated threats by Washington to cut all funding to Public Radio & TV, the House has just approved $465 million in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the fiscal year 2022. That is $30 million below what had been proposed in June but $20 million above fiscal 2021 spending levels. It will be the first increase in federal funding of public media in a decade. The funding increase will help to restore the $100 million deducted over the last 10 years of cuts. The House also voted to give CPB an additional $20 million, which will be used to replace and upgrade the technology that interconnects local public radio and TV stations, as well as for technologies and other services such as support for local stations’ public safety and homeland security missions. Meanwhile, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) continues to renew efforts to ax federal funding to CPB and National Public Radio in particular. He’s charged that NPR and PBS have shown “increasing bias” toward “sensitive” political and social issues that offend many conservative and religious Americans. Although picking up a few co-sponsors to Lamborn’s agenda, there’s little support in Congress which has maintained it’s support of public broadcasting. The bills now move to the Senate which is expected to approve the funding, with the President expected to sign these & other spending bills totaling $1.4 trillion.
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