Do You Support Cutting Funding to PBS, Arts?

What’s the story?

• President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal calls for the shuttering of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – which helps fund PBS and NPR – and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
• The administration had recommended eliminating funding for the CPB and NEA in its previous two budgets, which Congress failed to do.

What are people saying?

Cut funds

• “The Administration does not consider NEA activities to be core Federal responsibilities,” the proposal said.

It continues: "The savings and reform proposals described in this volume continue, and expand on, the Administration’s efforts to put the taxpayers first."

• The proposal would leave the CPB and NEA with enough funds to wind down operations.
• “[P]rivate fundraising has proven durable, negating the need for continued Federal subsidies,” the budget reads. “Services such as PBS and NPR, which receive funding from CPB, could make up the shortfall by increasing revenues from corporate sponsors, foundations, and members. In addition, alternatives to PBS and NPR programming have grown substantially since CPB was first established in 1967, greatly reducing the need for publicly funded programming options.”

Keep funding

• PBS executives pointed out that the network has received bipartisan support for its programs.
• "PBS and our 350 member stations across the country have earned bipartisan Congressional support over the years due to the high value the American people place on the services we provide their communities," PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement. 

"For a modest investment of about $1.35 per citizen per year, public television provides school readiness for children, support for teachers and caregivers, public safety communications and lifelong learning through high-quality content."

What do you think?

Do you support cutting funds to the CPB and NEA? Should Congress take the Administration’s suggestion? Take action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Cheyenne Morigeau/ Released)