Durbin Calls Out Devastating Impacts Of Republican Cuts To Public Broadcasting
CHICAGO — U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today held a press conference outside of the Chicago Public Media office to call out President Trump and congressional Republicans’ rescissions package that will claw back $1.1 billion in previously appropriated funding to public broadcasting. Five hundred public radio and TV stations across the country that rely on this federal funding to provide around-the-clock news, educational programming, and emergency alert services will be impacted, including Chicago’s WBEZ and WTTW, as well as rural Illinois’ public media stations.
“National public radio and public broadcasting are opportunities for Americans to learn information that is critical to their lives, futures, businesses, and their farms. But Republicans in Congress just voted to eliminate their federal assistance,” said Durbin. “Stations like WBEZ will be forced to scale-back or close outright, and this will especially hurt the rural areas of our state. Small towns in Illinois count on public broadcasting, not only for the news or entertainment, but also for critical information when it comes to terrible emergency weather conditions, like the record number of tornadoes we experienced last year. I’ll continue to fight to undo the damage done and ensure public media has the sources it needs to keep the people of Illinois informed and safe.”
“Public media is a small investment that provides a large public good,” said Heather Norman, President of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council. “70% of the money allocated to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting goes directly to owned and operated stations. For public media stations in Illinois this is a loss of $12 million, and the communities served by these stations stand to lose much more. Illinois has been hit hard by the closure of local newspapers, and public media has been trying to help fill the gap. These cuts will make it harder for us to do so.”
In 2024, $12.8 million in Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding went to Illinois, supporting 526 jobs and paying more than $46 million in wages. There are 25 non-commercial education radio stations in Illinois broadcasting programming from NPR. The funding cuts will impact programming such as PBS KIDS, which is educational programming that ensures access to free, high-quality early learning resources in areas where preschools and other educational services are scarce. Without CPB funding, local radio and TV stations in downstate Illinois, which rely more heavily on this funding, are at risk of closure.
The rescissions package claws back $9 billion in foreign aid as well as public broadcasting funding that had been previously appropriated on a bipartisan basis. The bill passed with a vote of 51-48. Durbin spoke on the Senate floor this week about the devastating impacts this package will have on America’s reputation as a global leader and the public institutions Americans rely on.
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