WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a prime example of Capitol Hill political theater at its finest, the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) Subcommittee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 funding bill — in a Republican-fueled statement — did not include legislative text for CPB or advance funding for CPB in FY 2026. The bill also failed to fund system interconnection and infrastructure for FY 2024, representing a cut of $60 million from current levels.
While the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lashed out against the move, D.C. insiders knew that it wall but symbolic. Indeed, that is the the case, as the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 funding bill put millions of dollars in advance appropriations into its version of the proposed legislation.
Specifically, the Senate’s reworking of the funding bill provides $535 million for CPB’s FY 2026 advance appropriation and $60 million for system interconnection and infrastructure for FY 2024.
As such, the Senate told the House that its erasure of the dollars from its funding bill is unacceptable. And, this pleased CPB President/CEO Patricia Harrison, who commented, “This essential funding ensures that public media’s educational and informational content and services are available for free to all Americans.”
She applauded the bipartisan Senate support of the funding, and added, “As the appropriations process continues, we look forward to working with Congress on funding decisions to support a healthy and vibrant public media system on behalf of our nation’s civil society.”
