HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESSB 5285

BYSenate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators McDermott, Deccio, Moore, von Reichbauer, Kreidler, Zimmerman, Stratton, Warnke, Saling, Vognild, Rinehart, Hansen, Gaspard, Wojahn, Fleming, Garrett, Talmadge and Kiskaddon)

Providing funding for public broadcasting stations.

House Committe on Ways & Means/Appropriations

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (18)

      Signed by Representatives Locke, Chair; Allen, Belcher, Bristow, Ebersole, Grant, Grimm, Hine, Holland, McLean, McMullen, Nealey, Niemi, Peery, Sayan, Silver, H. Sommers and Sprenkle.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (2)

      Signed by Representatives Fuhrman and B. Williams.

House Staff:Susan Kavanaugh (786-7145)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 13, 1987

BACKGROUND:

Public nonprofit radio and television companies complement private broadcasting companies in providing added program diversity for the utilization of Washington citizens.

Public broadcasting companies face increasing costs and potentially decreasing federal support.

SUMMARY:

Procedures are established to direct the Department of Community Development on how to allocate grants to public broadcasting stations.  One program is for public broadcasting companies licensed in Washington and qualified to receive grants from the Federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Seventy-five percent of the money appropriated to this program is allocated to public television corporations and 25 percent to public radio stations.  Both the radio and television funds are divided into basic and incentive grant pools.

Another program is for grants to broadcast stations with a noncommercial education license, but not eligible for grants from the Federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  These stations must have facilities and equipment for program origination and production.  They also must have daily broadcast schedules, with some programs locally produced, devoted primarily to serving the educational, informational, and cultural needs of the community within its primary service area.  The programming shall be intended for a general audience and not designed to further a particular religious philosophy or political organization.  Maximum grants awarded to eligible stations under this section are determined by the number of hours a day the station broadcasts.

Fiscal Note:      Attached.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Mike Ryherd, Paul Hartman, Yakima Public Television.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Public broadcasting enjoys broad public support.  Washington is one of only a few states that does not support public broadcasting.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.