Arkansas public television set to receive $500K in additional one-time funding
Katie Adkins / Arkansas Advocate
A PBS fan attending a March 12 Arkansas TV Commission meeting holds a sign expressing support for maintaining PBS membership.
This article was first published by Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Arkansas’ public television network will receive $500,000 in additional state funds offered by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to supplement its operating budget under a proposal that received initial legislative approval Tuesday.
The additional money is going before lawmakers less than two weeks after the public television network’s commission reversed course on its decision to cut ties with PBS.
Arkansas TV CEO Carlton Wing asked Sanders on May 29 for the money from the governor’s restricted reserve funds for “infrastructure or operating expenses,” according to legislative documents.
The Arkansas Legislative Council will take up the matter Friday. Its Performance Evaluation and Expenditure subcommittee approved the request Tuesday with no debate.
“Governor Sanders is grateful to the Legislature for partnering with outside supporters to support Arkansas TV, and she looks forward to working with Arkansas TV leadership to ensure the broadcaster highlights the Natural State and aligns with Arkansas values,” Sanders spokesperson Sam Dubke said in an email.
Wing, a former Republican lawmaker, made the request before Arkansas TV’s governing board voted earlier this month to pay PBS dues for the fiscal year starting July 1, ensuring PBS programs will remain in Arkansas.
The commission voted last year to cut ties with PBS, citing the loss of federal funding when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting closed. The move would have made Arkansas the first state to cut ties with PBS.
Public pushback led the commission to pause its plan to cut ties, which ended with the commission’s vote to accept more than $2.1 million Arkansans raised to cover PBS dues.
Two former Arkansas first ladies spearheaded a campaign to keep PBS in Arkansas, and donations came from all 75 counties.
Wing told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Sanders offered Arkansas TV the $500,000 in additional operating funds. Sanders also supported an appropriation bill that would have given the state the option to match up to $550,000 in private donations to Arkansas TV. The bill passed the Senate but failed in the House during the fiscal legislative session in April.
The majority of Arkansas TV’s funding comes from state funds. The agency’s appropriation faced resistance from House Republicans several years in a row until this spring, when some lawmakers praised Arkansas TV’s potential disaffiliation from PBS.
