WAER Syracuse Public Media and other public radio and televisions stations will lose a combined $1.1 billion over the next two years, after the US Senate approved a rescission bill from the White House. Locally that affects WAER, WCNY and WRVO, as well as other partner stations across New York.
The loss of federal funds, distributed through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, strips WAER Syracuse Public Media of approximately 11% of our annual budget. Those funds are used for local news coverage and other programming related to bringing the audience news and information programming.
NPR is reporting the Trump administration's $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio and television — a major step toward winding down nearly six decades of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
CPB stands to lose $1.1 billion dollars meant to fund it through the next two years, while the bill also cuts $7.9 billion in other programs. CPB acts as a conduit for federal money to NPR, PBS and their member stations.
In a marathon "vote-a-rama" session that lasted into the small hours Thursday, senators introduced numerous amendments, before ultimately voting 51-to-48 to approve the package that includes cuts to foreign food and health programs.
The senate's approval of the cuts tees up a final showdown in the House, which approved an earlier version last month.
The Senate vote was largely along party lines, with Democrats voting against the bill and all but two Republicans voting for it. The GOP exceptions were Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski.
In a statement immediately after the vote, NPR CEO Katherine Maher said: "Nearly 3-in-4 Americans say they rely on their public radio stations for alerts and news for their public safety," adding, "We call on the House of Representatives to reject this elimination of public media funding, which directly harms their communities and constituents, and could very well place lives at risk."
The Associated Press reports the legislation would claw back nearly $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which represents the full amount it’s due to receive during the next two budget years.
The corporation distributes more than 70% of the money to more than 1,500 locally operated public television and radio stations, with much of the remainder assigned to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service to support national programming.