The United States Congress is considering a rescission request from the Trump administration to pull funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The maneuver would negatively affect SDPB—as well as the four public tribal radio stations in South Dakota.
The station KOYA stands to lose about $200,000 if Congress ultimately approves the rescission.
John Miller is manager for the station in Rosebud. He said the funding reduction would be very detrimental to the people of his community.
“Because, we serve a purpose of keeping them up to date and passing along emergency information—passing along pertinent information that helps them in every way and every day," Miller said. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding that we do receive is very beneficial in keeping the station on the air. It wouldn’t be a good outcome for us.”
KILI of Porcupine, KDKO of Lake Andes and KLND of McLaughlin all stand to lose around $200,000 in CPB grants.
South Dakota’s lone representative in the U.S. House, Republican Dusty Johnson, voted in favor of rescinding the money.
The question now heads to the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds said he does not want to see funding cut for radio stations in rural areas that rely on public broadcasting—particularly on reservations.
“Let’s not cut the stuff where we really do need to be able to help some folks that are in some rural areas, and on the reservations, where they simply don’t have other resources available to keep those radios in operation,” Rounds said.
Rounds said his rescission decision will be based on whether the package can be amended to allow for funding to continue to reach rural radio stations.
The CPB rescission would also affect SDPB to the tune of $2.2 million. Earlier this year, SDPB received full funding from the supermajority Republican controlled state legislature, after former Gov. Kristi Noem suggested slashing the statewide network’s state funding by 65 percent.
