June 21, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging passage of H.R. 3392 and H.R. 3393 to defund National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.):
“It is perfectly clear that both National Public Radio and the local public television channels could get on just fine without federal funding. While the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is entirely dependent on federal funds, individual stations are most certainly not. In 2017, NPR reported that member stations only relied on 8 percent of their funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That number goes up to 12 percent when other federal, state and local tax sources are included. As for public television stations, about 15 percent of their budgets come from federal funds. The vast majority of funding comes from individuals, corporations, foundations, colleges and universities and investments.
“President Trump’s budget has also included provision for phasing out federal funding and as far as individual stations are concerned, this will not make or break the stations. In fact, the loss of federal funding would have the effect of encouraging private donations and the formerly public television and radio stations would thrive in a private funding environment.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1 or at media@limitgov.org
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