Arkansas would match up to $550K from donors to public television under proposal

This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

A bill advanced by a legislative committee Wednesday would increase the spending authority of Arkansas’ public television network to match up to $550,000 from donors who want to keep PBS programs in the state.

Senate Bill 77 aims to encourage Arkansans to support the public television network in light of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s closure earlier this year, Little Rock Democratic Sen. Clarke Tucker told Joint Budget’s Special Language subcommittee. The panel endorsed the bill on a split voice vote, sending it to the full Joint Budget Committee.

In December, Arkansas’ public television commission became the first in the country to vote to split from PBS. But the commission last month voted to delay that split after facing a backlash from viewers and donors.

Commissioners and network administrators said PBS membership dues were too costly without CPB grant money.

The network lost 3,738 donors between Nov. 30 and Feb. 28, Arkansas TV Foundation CEO Marge Betley said at the commission’s March meeting, and likely would see a bigger drop if the network officially left PBS.

“We had a lot of donors walk away because what they were hoping to pay for with their donations was PBS,” Tucker said. “What this does is it creates an incentive and a mechanism for those donors to come back to the table.”

The Arkansas TV Commission’s decision last month pauses its plans to split from PBS until September. The network’s foundation later set up a fund solely for donations meant to pay for PBS dues, which would cost $2.1 million for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The foundation announced Tuesday that an anonymous donor pledged $1 million per year over the next three years to fund PBS dues, on the condition that the network retains its PBS membership and that the foundation matches every dollar with contributions from other donors.

The foundation has raised about $130,000 since the pause on disaffiliating from PBS, and the Tyson Family Foundation has promised to give the network $100,000 per year for three years, Tucker said.

Senate Bill 77 initially required an immediate transfer of $550,000 in state funds to Arkansas TV July 1, but Tucker removed this requirement from the bill. He said he and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders agreed that the state can match public donations with restricted reserve funds, subject to Arkansas Legislative Council approval.

Paying for a PBS membership does not force a member station to air PBS programming, and station leaders will have the final say over which programs to broadcast, Tucker said in response to questions from House Speaker Brian Evans, a Cabot Republican.

Arkansas TV CEO Carlton Wing, a former Republican House member, has said the station should prioritize in-house, Arkansas-specific programming.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Senate adopted an amendment to Arkansas TV’s appropriation that eliminates the network’s deputy director position.

Cutting a leadership role helps cut costs to keep the station afloat, Wing said in an interview Wednesday. He also said he promised the Legislature he would not ask for more spending authority, since the network’s appropriation has repeatedly faced resistance from House Republicans.

“However, if a check is sent to Conway, we will gladly deposit it in our account, so I’m keeping my word,” Wing said.