A $1.7 trillion funding bill signed by President Joe Biden for fiscal year 2023 Thursday fulfilled some of CPB’s appropriations requests and will provide additional support for initiatives that have been on the public media system’s wishlist for years.
CPB will receive $535 million in FY2025, an increase from the $525 million it will get in FY24. CPB’s base appropriation is funded two years in advance of the annual federal budget process. The corporation asked for $565 million in March 2022.
The funding bill also includes $60 million for public broadcasting’s interconnection system and infrastructure for FY23. Interconnection funds have been level at $20 million since FY2018.
The budget includes $31 million in FY23 for Ready To Learn, the Department of Education grant program that funds public television educational content, research and community outreach for educators. That is a $500,000 increase from the appropriation signed for FY22.
And the bill includes $56 million for the Next Generation Warning System, funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Funding for the program was first approved for FY22 at $40 million.
“We are grateful that bipartisan negotiations have resulted in increased funding support for CPB,” said CPB President Pat Harrison in a Dec. 23 news release following the House and Senate’s passage of the funding bill. “Congressional funding enables public media to continue these valuable services as well as to innovate in this rapidly changing media environment. We thank Members of Congress for making these critical investments in our nation’s public media system.”