House approves minibus package with NGWS, RTL funding but not broader support

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a fiscal year 2026 minibus package that includes funding for programs connected to public media but does not restore broader funding for the system.

The package includes the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill, which contains $31 million for the Ready To Learn grant program, and the Homeland Security bill, which would provide $48 million for the Next Generation Warning System.

“While America’s Public Television Stations are deeply disappointed that the final package does not restore any of the local station funding that was rescinded last year — a devastating missed opportunity for Congress to save local stations, particularly those serving rural areas — we are grateful that the bill provides some funding for the important public safety and education services that public media provides in communities throughout the country,” said APTS CEO Kate Riley in a news release.

The NGWS program was first funded in FY22 through the Department of Homeland Security after America’s Public Television Stations lobbied for its creation. The program, which reimbursed stations for expenses related to technology infrastructure projects, received additional funding in FY23 and FY24, totaling $136 million during that span. The FY25 funding pool was $40 million.

Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency removed CPB as an intermediary in distributing the funding and limited applicants for FY25 funds to states and tribal nations. The change did not rule out that a public media organization could be a subrecipient of a grant.

The Ready To Learn program is funded through the Department of Education. The department terminated CPB’s 2020–25 RTL grant in May, prompting layoffs at stations and within PBS Kids.

In the news release, Riley thanked Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) for authoring an amendment to the minibus package that attempted to restore some funding for stations. The amendment was not included in the final package.

“We are not giving up. We will not stop fighting for our local stations and the vital services they provide their communities,” Riley said. “We remain hopeful that continued Congressional bipartisan support in the upcoming FY 2027 appropriations process will enable a restoration of local station funding to support stations’ essential missions of public safety, education and local community connections.”