Senate Subcommittee Eliminates Public Broadcasting Funding

On Thursday, a Senate Finance subcommittee removed all funding for public broadcasting and the Alaska Rural Communications Service. KTNA’s Phillip Manning spoke with the subcommittee chair about the decision, and has this story:

Senator Mike Dunleavy, whose district includes the Upper Valley, began Thursday’s budget subcommittee meeting with a warning that this iteration of the state’s Department of Administration budget contains significant cuts.

“There’s going to be a lot of good programs across the board that may not be funded, and as we go through this, it’s not necessarily a judgement on those programs, but it has to do with the fact that we may not have the money to pay for everything.  Actually, we don’t have the money to pay for everything.”

The reason for the cuts is the price of oil.  The State of Alaska funds as much as ninety percent of its budget through oil revenues.  With prices and production down, the state is currently looking at a $3.5 billion budget deficit.

One budget item that didn’t make the list of funded activities in the subcommittee budget is public broadcasting, which includes four public television and more than two dozen public radio stations, including KTNA.  In the case of KTNA, it would mean a reduction of $122,000 in a budget just over $330,000.

The budget still has a number of steps to go through before it is finalized, beginning with the full Senate Finance Committee.  Senator Dunleavy says he thinks at least some of the cut will survive the process.

“Will there be some re-prioritization? Very possibly.  Do we see us expanding the budget?  No.  If anything, we see it contracting.  Could PBS and public broadcasting survive the cuts?  It could, but I’m not betting on public broadcasting being fully funded.  I would doubt that would happen.”

With the state facing such a large revenue shortfall, Dunleavy says some of the cuts will impact popular programs.  Earlier in the week, legislators received a briefing saying that it is impossible for the state to cut to a balanced budget.  That means finding another means of revenue.  Senator Dunleavy says some legislators in Juneau are looking at options.

“There are various models being run by offices now, as we speak, on sales tax, on income tax, on fuel tax, etc.  The interesting thing is the models that are being run, the ones referring to sales tax and income tax, they still don’t close the gap.”

Dunleavy says that cuts are critical, and that a balance of revenue and expenditure needs to be based on the tolerance of Alaskans to either losing programs or opening up revenue streams, which could include taxes.

“I think in almost any scenario you would have to look at reductions first to get to a point where a majority of the population of Alaska says, ‘You know what?  We’re willing to look at some other revenue enhancements as opposed to cuts.'”

Senator Dunleavy says he has gotten ‘some’ feedback, but anticipates more commentary will come when the budget proceeds to the full Senate Finance committee next week.