Virginia governor vetoes funding for pubcasting

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has used a line-item veto to cut the commonwealth’s funding for public broadcasting, calling it “a smart, practical budgeting decision to make Virginia government smaller and more efficient and save taxpayer dollars,” the Roanoke Times reports today (May 3). The move reduces support that lawmakers had approved for educational programming and radio reading services by $424,000, or about 16 percent, in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Total funding for Virginia public broadcasting has been cut by about 25 percent since last year, according to the governor’s office. Pubcasters in several other states also face funding hurdles in their legislatures (Current, April 18).