It was a handshake agreement that sealed the fate of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Now, more details are emerging about the $9.4 million in temporary federal support to Native American public radio stations organized by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD).
The funding comes in the wake of Congress rescinding $1.1 billion in previously approved allocations for the CPB, effectively eliminating federal support for NPR and PBS, which was one of President Trump’s top priorities.
Senate Republicans reworked the legislation to secure enough votes, with Rounds reversing his opposition only after brokering an agreement with the White House Office of Management and Budget. Under the deal, around $10 million in previously allocated Green New Deal funds would be redirected through the Department of the Interior to support 37 tribal radio stations.
To secure additional Republican backing, Senate leaders also scaled back proposed cuts to the global AIDS relief program PEPFAR by $400 million, reducing the total rescissions package to $9 billion.
Rounds said the stopgap funding is intended to prevent shutdowns while lawmakers work toward a more permanent solution. “They wouldn’t have survived without this,” Rounds said in July. “They provide emergency services information for some of the most rural parts of our country and some of the poorest counties in the United States.”
During a public meeting at the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, Rounds said the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Indigenous Connectivity and Technology will administer the grants and expects the program to be operating by October. According to Rounds’ office and the Interior Department, funding levels should mirror what stations received previously under CPB.
Earlier in August, a department spokesperson told South Dakota News Watch that the first grants should go out by the end of this year or early next, adding, “The Department of the Interior and US Indian Affairs are working to accelerate the implementation of a grant program to support tribal radio stations, utilizing existing program structures and staffing to ensure timely execution.”
