HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 679

BYRepresentatives Grimm, Silver, Locke, Lewis, Rayburn, Ferguson, Armstrong, Ballard, Walk, Ebersole, Lux, Schmidt, Hine, Bumgarner, Meyers, H. Sommers, Belcher, Day, Heavey, Zellinsky, Madsen, Jesernig, S. Wilson, Jacobsen, Taylor, P. King, C. Smith, Baugher, Doty, Unsoeld, Cantwell and Todd

Providing funding for local public broadcasting stations.

House Committe on Trade & Economic Development

Majority Report:     Do pass with amendments.  (13)

     Signed by Representatives Vekich, Chair; Wineberry, Vice Chair; Amondson, Belcher, Cantwell, Doty, Grant, Hargrove, Holm, McMullen, Moyer, Rasmussen and Schoon.

Minority Report:     Do not pass.  (6)

     Signed by Representatives Beck, Braddock, Kremen, McLean, B. Williams and J. Williams.

House Staff:Stephen Hodes (786-7092)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

FEBRUARY 25, 1987

BACKGROUND:

It is common practice for state governments to provide funds to subsidize public broadcasting stations.  Only seven states and the District of Columbia do not provide some form of direct public subsidy to public broadcasting.  They are: Arizona, California, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and Washington state.  There are no public broadcast stations in Montana and Wyoming.  Such subsidies are most commonly provided to public television stations, with eighteen states also currently providing subsidies to public radio stations.

There are currently six public television stations in the state, and seven major public radio stations.  There are also twenty smaller public radio stations in the state, primarily college stations.

SUMMARY:

BILL AS AMENDED:  The Department of Community Development is directed to distribute grants to eligible public radio and television broadcasting stations in the state to assist with programming, operations, and capital needs.  An appropriation of $1.5 million is made to the Department of Community Development to fund these grants.

A formula is established for the distribution of these grants. Appropriations are divided into a radio fund, which shall receive 25 percent of the funds, and a television funds, which shall receive 75 percent of the funds.  Each fund shall be divided into a base grant pool and an incentive pool, each of which shall account for 50 percent of the monies in each fund.  Each eligible station shall receive an equal share of the base pool, and a share of the relevant incentive grant pool.  Incentive grant shares are based on the proportion of non-federal financial support to the sum of all stations' non-federal financial support.

This formula provides for grants for all public television stations and the larger public radio stations in the state and accounts for $1.38 million of the appropriation.  The remaining $120,000 is provided for other smaller public ratio stations in the state which qualify on the basis of listed criteria.

AMENDED BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  A formula is established for the distribution of grants to smaller public radio stations in the state, which replaces the allocation of grants of equal size to smaller radio stations.  The appropriation of funds to the Department of Community Development for grants is removed.

Fiscal Note:    Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:     Mike Ryherd, Public Broadcasting Network; Paul Hartman, KYBE; and Martin Neeb, Washington Educational Network and KPLU-FM.

House Committee - Testified Against: None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:     Most states fund public broadcasting.  There is a need for funds to replace obsolete equipment, and to maintain and increase the quality of programming on public broadcasting stations.

House Committee - Testimony Against: None Presented.