WASHINGTON - July 7, 2016 - America's Public Television Stations (APTS) president and CEO Patrick Butler issued the following statement today commending the U.S. House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS-Education) Subcommittee for recommending significant funding for public broadcasting:
"America's Public Television Stations are tremendously gratified that the House Appropriations Subcommittee with responsibility for funding public broadcasting has recommended level funding of $445 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting under its two-year advance funding mechanism- and has done so with strong bipartisan support. In addition, the subcommittee has recommended $10 million in FY 2017 as a further investment in the new public broadcasting interconnection system. We are grateful for the leadership of Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and for the subcommittee's broad support of public broadcasting's essential public service missions in education, public safety and civic leadership.
"We remain hopeful that as the appropriations process runs its course, full funding of $50 million will be provided for the interconnection system and $25.7 million for Ready To Learn, public television's unique national-local partnership with a proven record of helping America's children get ready to learn in school and succeed in life - and helping close the educational achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more affluent peers.
"But we are most grateful that today's Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee mark-up demonstrates support for public broadcasting across the political spectrum. We are determined to earn that support every day in communities across America."
About APTS
America's Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979. The mission of APTS is to conduct - in concert with member stations - strategic planning, research, communications, advocacy and other activities that foster a strong and financially sound public television system providing essential public services to all Americans. Its affiliate APTS Action, Inc. promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy and through grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner bipartisan political support. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
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