The national recession that has driven companies to bankruptcy, forced millions of people out of work and left Pennsylvania with a projected $3.2 billion deficit has forced elected officials to make some painful choices. Governor Ed Rendell, who is pushing for a "temporary" increase in the state's personal income tax, held an emergency Cabinet meeting today. He outlined $500 million in additional cuts to his original budget proposal. In February, he elected to zero-out funding for the Pennsylvania Public Television Network. He calls for the complete elimination of operating grants to the state's eight public broadcasting stations. The Senate Republicans last month passed a budget that does the same thing. If lawmakers follow through with these plans and the Governor signs the bill, a funding commitment that began in 1968 with the founding of public broadcasting in Pennsylvania would come to an abrupt end.
How abrupt? This fiscal year, the stations received $7,995,000 from the state. Imagine going from eight million dollars of support to zero in one year. For WITF, the state's funding withdrawal would mean a loss of $917,000 from its operating budget. That's a mighty big hole to fill especially when you operate a community-owned, non-profit organization.
PPTN stations are not alone in feeling the budgetary ax. The Governor's plan eliminates funding for 101 different line-items. This year might be the first in which Gov. Rendell and state lawmakers will be hard pressed to trumpet any "winners" come budget-signing day.
Pennsylvania's public stations have launched "The Fight for Funding" -- a public-awareness campaign to draw attention both to the unique contribution these stations make to the fabric of life in our commonwealth and to the need for viewers, listeners and readers to urge a restoration of state funding. The campaign includes a rally at the State Capitol, personal lobbying visits to lawmakers, letter-, email- and petition-writing drives to the Governor and the General Assembly, and web-based testimonials advocating the power of public media to educate, enlighten and entertain.
Kathleen's video message urging support for public TV
WITF President and CEO Kathleen Pavelko joins me Friday night at 8:30 on Smart Talk to discuss the state budget and its implications for the future of public broadcasting in Pennsylvania. Pavelko points out in an email that public TV's contribution to our public health, safety and welfare should not be minimized.
"I would challenge lawmakers to define 'core functions.' The Governor has said that only public health, safety and welfare should be funded. Yet Commonwealth citizens expect that our state's history, its art and culture, and its children's curiosity will be protected. (1) Public Television is the only safe and healthy media choice for children. (2) Public television stations are a public safety asset: Before the administration dismantled the PPTN network -- without the approval of the General Assembly -- PPTN stations were the secure, statewide backup system for emergency communications - the EAS (emergency alert system) for national security, natural disasters and Amber alerts. (3) Free and non-commercial broadcasting that's available to all is a public benefit to the common welfare," Pavelko writes.
She defines this year's scenario as a "real threat" to the services Pennsylvanians have come to expect over the public airwaves. In addition to the state aid, WITF faces a drop of an additional $100,000 in federal matching funds through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Pavelko notes that other Commonwealth programs are facing 6-20% cuts. "The elimination of funding for a service Pennsylvanians have proven they value -- that's unfair and disproportionate," she argues.
So what would zero state funding mean to WITF and its viewers? "The impact will be felt in the arena that most matters to our region -- original programming. Programs for and about our region -- including Smart Talk on TV--are the most ambitious and expensive work that we do. The loss of $917,000 would impact whether, or how, we could produce programs of that kind. In addition, the loss of those funds would require us to eliminate positions, training, production travel, and relationships with our national organizations," she adds. "Without knowing if, or how much, funding might be affected, I am unwilling to be more specific. But our audiences would see, and hear, the impact."
Brian Baker's video message urging support for public TV
Pennsylvania's public broadcasters seek $8 million for the state's eight stations. That computes to about 66 cents per Pennsylvania resident per year and represents a cut of 19% from the FY09 appropriation. Nearly three and a half million people watch Pennsylvania public stations every week and more than 550,000 of them are children under the age of 12. WITF has implemented cost reductions, including job eliminations and company-wide salary reductions to cope with the effects of the recession.
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