WASHINGTON — Today on the Senate floor, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) will attempt to block the Trump administration’s proposed rescissions package from cutting funding for public broadcasting stations that serve rural areas and Tribal communities.
“Cutting funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would devastate local public media, especially for stations in rural and Tribal Arizona,” said Senator Gallego. “We shouldn’t pull the rug out from under the communities that depend on public media the most. That’s why I’m fighting to protect rural and Tribal communities from these dangerous cuts.”
The Trump rescissions package proposes slashing $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps sustain the country’s public media system, including the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio (NPR), and a network of 1,500 local stations. In Arizona, CPB distributed more than $7.4 million in support to local stations in FY2024 alone.
That funding is especially important in rural and Tribal areas, where many stations rely heavily on CPB funding to operate. Arizona stations in Kykotsmovi, Whiteriver, and Tuba City, for example, receive roughly three-fourths of their funding from CPB. Additionally, public television provides critical early childhood education resources for the nearly 80% of children in Arizona who do not have access to organized preschool.
Senator Gallego’s motion will preserve CPB funding for public broadcasting stations serving these rural and Tribal areas.
Read Senator Gallego’s motion HERE.
7/16/25