Support Public Media for ALL!

Most Americans, including me, support federal funding for public media – and for good reason. From delivering life-saving emergency alerts to preparing children for school success and covering local issues that shape our daily lives, public media provides essential services found nowhere else. Yet despite this strong public support, Congress passed the Rescissions Act and eliminated $1.1 billion in previously approved public media funding. I am deeply disappointed by this decision. More than 70% of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) funding goes directly to local stations. Cutting that support is devastating, especially for rural and Tribal stations – many of which may be forced to shut down as early as October 1 if funding is not restored. I urge you to support restoring vital CPB funding and fund essential public media programs through the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations process. This funding is essential to ensuring our local stations can continue serving everyone in their community with essential public services. Public media is one of the most effective public-private partnerships in the country. For about $1.60 per American each year, stations turn each CPB dollar into $7 in local support reinvested directly into communities to: • Deliver real-time emergency alerts and public safety updates during weather events and other crises • Offer research-based educational content proven to improve early learning outcomes • Support educators, caregivers, and job seekers with free resources and professional tools • Produce local journalism and programming that reflect the unique voices and needs of their communities In addition to CPB funding, investments in Interconnection and Ready To Learn are essential to public media’s reach and impact: • Interconnection enables stations to distribute programming and emergency alerts across all 50 states and U.S. territories, serving nearly 99% of Americans. It is the only communications system with this reach and is trusted by state and local emergency managers. • Ready To Learn funds the creation of high-quality educational programming and outreach targeted to at-risk early learners. The program is research-proven to advance school readiness and long-term success. Public media stations are among the last remaining locally owned and operated media organizations that reach nearly every household. I recognize the difficult budget decisions ahead, but the return on investment in public media is clear. There is no substitute for the federal funding that keeps it free, local, and accessible to all. Please restore $535 million for CPB and fund Interconnection at $60 million and Ready To Learn at $31 million. Thank you for considering this request.