Congress Passes Legislation to Fund FCC and CPB

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a package of seven fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills, including $388 million for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and $565 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) fiscal year 2024 advance appropriation.

The $617 billion package passed by a 219-208 vote along party lines; the Senate has yet to vote on appropriations bills for FY 2022.

CPB President/CEO Patricia Harrison said that the appropriation “ensur(es) that public media remains free and available to every American throughout the country, in rural and urban areas…. We are also grateful for the Houses’s ongoing support of $20 million for the public broadcasting interconnection system, which allows for the distribution of content from producers to local stations and is part of our nation’s emergency alert system. The $31.8 million provided for the Department of Education’s Ready To Learn program enables the creation of accessible, educational public media content, on air, online and in the community, for children ages 2 to 8. Decades of research has shown Ready To Learn’s success in helping our youngest learners prepare for and succeed in school.

“As the appropriations process continues, we look forward to working with Congress on funding decisions to support a healthy and vibrant public media system.”