On June 12, 2025, the House with a razor thin margin 214–212 vote approved the Rescissions Act of 2025, which is now headed to the Senate that can pass it with a simple majority (51 votes). Much is at stake, including $1.1 billion in public media funding that was already approved by law. While federal funding only makes up about 15% of PBS’ overall revenue, the percentage varies significantly for individual stations. In rural areas, it can account for up to 60% of a station’s revenue, according to Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) President and CEO Paula Kerger.
The CPB, a nonprofit established by Congress, receives an annual appropriation of around $500 million—just a fraction of the $1.1 billion—which it then distributes to public television and radio stations nationwide. It is easy to understand why those annoying yet necessary pledge breaks are critical, since the rest of the funding comes from individual donors along with corporate sponsors and grants.
California has several PBS stations serving rural communities, such as KVIE of Northern California and the Central Valley, KIXE based in Redding, KVPT located in Fresno, and numerous others. All provide high quality, educational programs, with each station striving to match its particular demographic needs. PBS Español, for example, has grown in importance over the years, offering a variety of programming, educational resources, and online content designed for Spanish speakers and learners.
Certain members of our San Francisco Bay Times team have worked for PBS stations, and continue to donate both to public television and public radio stations. Bay Times columnist Leslie Sbrocco is a well-known television host at KQED. Other Bay Times team members choose to donate simply because they value the programming of PBS and NPR.
They are also now supporting the nonprofit Protect My Public Media, which is calling for members of the public to contact their local senators with this message:
“Please prevent serious and lasting harm to our local public media stations. I urge you to support removing the proposal to rescind $1.1 billion in already-approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the rescissions package.
This funding supports the vital services provided by local public radio and television stations in communities of all sizes. Every public media station would feel the impact and be forced to cut back on local journalism and programming, educational content and outreach for children and workers, and life-saving emergency communications. But rural and tribal stations would be hit hardest. For many of these stations, federal funding accounts for the largest share of their budgets, and there simply aren’t enough local resources to replace it. Without this support, they face the very real risk of shutting down entirely, leaving entire regions without critical resources.
Public media reaches nearly every American, and local stations remain among the last locally operated media sources serving communities, especially in areas with unreliable broadband or populations too small to attract commercial media. For about $1.60 per person annually, this investment ensures access to essential services. These stations are irreplaceable.
Rescinding these funds would make our communities less safe, less informed, and less connected. Please protect public media and the millions of Americans in your state who rely on it every day by removing this harmful proposal from the package and rejecting any effort to defund public media.”
California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, as for other Democrats, are against the Rescissions Act. Support for PBS has been bipartisan, however, so we encourage you to share this Protect My Public Media link with friends, relatives, and colleagues in other states: https://protectmypublicmedia.org/rsc-calls/
The information at that site provides instructions on how to call local lawmakers to voice support for PBS. As the organization holds, “Now it’s our job to speak up and make sure the Senate hears us: pulling back support from local stations would leave communities less safe, children less prepared for school, and all of us less connected.”
No matter what happens with the act, both PBS and NPR need support from those who can afford it. Each individual who donates is helping pay the way for countless viewers and listeners who are less fortunate and who rely on the programming. Several studies reveal that there is a powerful link between literacy and children’s media, for example, with a large percentage of children learning how to read with high-quality, evidence-aligned instruction, and many PBS programs are designed to be part of that effort.
PBS & The Evolution of LGBTQ Rights
Published on July 17, 2025
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