An APTS Campaign to Increase Federal Funding

The ThinkBig campaign is a multi-year initiative with the goal of increasing the federal contribution that supports the content and services that local Public Television stations provide to their communities. APTS launched ThinkBig to engage Public Television stations in the advocacy process necessary to solidify congressional support for such an increase.

The ThinkBig campaign seeks to create a comprehensive case statement that clearly defines both local and national impact of Public Television stations nationwide. ThinkBig also seeks to organize a national grasstops network charged with communicating this statement to lawmakers.

ThinkBig Updates

June 2008 Update
Appropriations
This year’s time line for consideration of individual appropriations bills is a bit uncertain as Congress will first try to finish an emergency spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill passed both the House and the Senate before the Memorial Day recess and Congress is now busy conferencing the legislation and trying to send the President a bill he can sign into law as soon as possible. Both the House and Senate bills include some increases in domestic spending that are veto targets for the President. Domestic programs funded through the bill include increases in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, extended unemployment benefits, expanded veterans’ benefits, and funding to pay for the Census overruns.

In a normal year, the individual appropriations bills would pass in Subcommittee, move to full Committee for passage and, finally they would be considered on the floor. This process usually begins in May and should finish on or before September 30 (the end of the fiscal year). However, there is some speculation that this year most bills may not make it past the committee markup phase. If Congress does not complete all funding bills this year, and there is a Continuing Resolution until some time after the new President takes office, the levels set by the Appropriations Committee may serve as the starting point for the newly elected Administration and Congress. That is why it is critical for APTS members to be fully engaged to better position ourselves for the possibility that the bills coming out of the committee markup strongly favor our requested funding levels.

Once we have a more definitive markup schedule for the subcommittees with jurisdiction over public broadcasting programs, we will contact you and ask that you weigh-in with your Members of Congress who sit on these influential committees. At that time it will be extremely important to remind Member of Congress of our federal requests, and the local impact on the communities you serve. Stations who have Members of Congress who sit on the Labor-HHS Subcommittee, Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee or Agriculture Subcommittee in either the House or the Senate can expect a call from APTS, likely beginning sometime this month, to encourage stations to make this very important pre-markup contact.

Policy Initiatives
APTS will also be working this year to advance our satellite carriage and education initiatives. Again, while legislative activity on policy matters seems uncertain, we are laying an important foundation for the new Congress and Administration. With this in mind, we will likely be reaching out to stations for help in soliciting support from Members of Congress on the Ready to Compete initiative and H.R. 4221, the Satellite Consumers Access to Public Television’s Digital Programming Act of 2007.

On the Satellite front, the bill currently has 14 co-sponsors. It mandates carriage of the full array of public television’s digital programming. With the recent FCC ruling imposing only a limited carriage mandate on satellite providers, we are working closely with the bill’s sponsor—Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)—to make a strong push to get as many co-sponsors of her legislation as possible in order to advance the bill.

With the major education reauthorization bills likely stalled for the remainder of the year, APTS is working with the House and Senate Education Committees and key Congressional offices to get components of the Ready to Compete initiative introduced as a stand-alone bill. Simultaneously, we are laying the foundation to incorporate these pieces into the larger reauthorization bills—when they are taken up again next year. This action is critical to raise awareness and build momentum around Public Television’s important work in education. Once again, we may contact you to weigh-in with your Members of Congress to make this a reality and keep the process moving forward.

As we enter a busy time for the 110th Congress, APTS will continue to work diligently to advance the funding and policy priorities of our stations. We have also provided a ThinkBig Engagement Calendar that you can use as a grasstops engagement reference point every year. We hope this outline and the calendar will help provide you with the tools and resources you need to join us in this grasstops effort—as together we urge Congress to ThinkBig.

March 2008 Update

Initial Support from Key Committees
Earlier this month, the House and Senate passed their versions of the FY 2009 Budget Resolution, the document that sets overall spending limits for Congress and provides appropriators with recommendations for funding.

The House version included positive language for CPB advance appropriations. The Committee Members rejected the President's proposed cuts to CPB, and recognized the importance of advance funding. More significantly, however, the Committee signaled to appropriators that the Budget Resolution allows for an increase in CPB funding. While this Resolution provides only recommendations for spending, it sends a strong message about funding priorities to the Appropriations Committee.

In addition, the Senate’s version explicitly noted that CPB was not subject to the limitations placed on other advance funded programs. This could be interpreted as a sign of support for our goal of increased funding for FY 2011.

Increased Demonstrated Support
Through your hard work, we were able to set a new record for signatures on our “Dear Colleague” funding letters. The letters, which contain our funding requests for FY 2009 and FY 2011, serve as clear demonstrations of support for our funding increases to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the relevant Appropriations Subcommittees. This year, 128 Members of Congress signed the letter in support of an increase to CPB funding, almost a 20% increase over last year’s levels. Appropriators use these letters to gauge support for programs among rank-and-file Members of Congress. And, in an additional testament to our success, we were able to attract a near record number of Republican signatures in recent years, despite losing many of our Republican allies in the 2006 election cycle.

A New Champion Steps Forward
For the first time, we’ve been able to enlist a key member of the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee to be a vocal champion for our funding increase. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has agreed to make our goal a priority as the appropriations process moves forward. Her position on that key subcommittee will play an invaluable role in making the case for increased funding to her colleagues, including House Appropriations Committee chair David Obey (D-WI).

At the same time, APTS has been working to recruit other key champions through the use of targeted in-district meetings to discuss the need for an increase in CPB funding. These meetings which occur during the periodic congressional “recesses”, are often more effective due to the absence of many of the distractions present during meetings on Capitol Hill. In-district meetings also provide the opportunity for Members of Congress to visit and tour stations, allowing them to see first-hand the vital programming and services stations provide.

Effective Coalition Building
Finally, while we continue to work closely with NPR, PBS and our partners in the Public Broadcasting industry, we have also been able to attract outside supporters who share our vision for an expanded role for Public Broadcasting in the Digital Age. Because of the wide array of services stations like yours provide, we’ve been able to attract a similarly diverse coalition, including Americans for the Arts and Free Press. APTS is coordinating with both groups to harness the power of their grassroots networks and to demonstrate to Members of Congress the important impact our stations have on their communities.

While we recognized at the outset that ThinkBig was to be a multi-year process fraught with challenges, we are seeing tangible results and growing support among Members of Congress as we work to tell the story of the impact of federal dollars on their districts. All indications are that the campaign’s opening salvo, Capitol Hill Day, was a success. The challenge we face now is to build upon these initial successes and maintain the momentum we have worked so hard to cultivate. Your active participation is crucial to the success of ThinkBig. Together our commitment to ThinkBig, a sustained effort to grow CPB funding, is our best hope to ensure the long-term vitality of Public Television.

All of us at APTS work everyday to facilitate your relationship with your Member of Congress. We will continue to communicate with you on our collective progress and ask that you let us know how we can better serve your needs.