Thursday, March 17, 2011

This afternoon the House voted to defund NPR

This afternoon the House voted to defund NPR

(National Public Radio) 228-192

Published on March 17, 2011

The House today voted to end federal funding to National Public Radio. Republican supporters said it
made good fiscal sense, and Democratic opponents called it an ideological attack that would deprive
local stations of access to programs such as “Car Talk” and “All Things Considered.” The bill, passed
228-192 along mainly partisan lines, would bar federal funding of NPR and prohibit local public stations
from using federal money to pay NPR dues and buy its programs. The prospects of support in the
Democratic-controlled Senate are slim. Seven Republicans broke ranks to vote against the bill. Thursday’s
bill would ban federal funding of NPR, which was about $5 million in fiscal year 2010. It would bar public
radio stations from using their federal grant money to pay dues to NPR. That total was about $2.8 million
in fiscal 2010. It also would bar public radio stations from using federal funds to buy NPR programs. NPR
received $56 million in programming fees last year, its largest single source of revenue. Stations could still
use federal money to produce their own programs. Read more at the NPR website.

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