Wednesday, June 22, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- A House bill that cuts federal money for public broadcasting would slice the budgets of KLVX Channel 10 by $250,000 and trim about $420,000 from the budget of Las Vegas public radio station KNPR.
KLVX, which is limited by its board to spending federal money on education services, likely would have to scale back children's programming, general manager Tom Axtell said.
KLVX programming include the children's programs "Sesame Street," "Barney and Friends," and "Teletubbies," although it is not yet known what shows could be scaled back, Axtell said.
The budget cuts also could hurt several KLVX non-television projects, including one in which the station produces materials to aid as many as 5,000 Clark County teachers in preparation for federally mandated tests so that they can achieve a "highly qualified" status. Federal funds also are used for a distance learning program that reaches more than 5,000 students in five Nevada counties. The program has helped lower the drop-out rate in Clark County, Axtell said.
KLVX officials, amid programs like "Antique Roadshow" this week have been urging viewers to contact their lawmakers in Congress, and the congressional offices have been getting calls and e-mails, aides said.
The office of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., has received about 150 calls and e-mails, overwhelmingly opposed to budget cuts, Berkley spokesman David Cherry said.
"Families in Las Vegas and all around our nation count on public broadcasting for educational programming, the arts, news and entertainment of all types," said Berkley, a former KLVX board member. "Our communities will suffer if this funding is slashed and local PBS outlets like Channel 10 in Las Vegas are forced to offer less programming or reduce the hours they broadcast."
KNPR stands to lose about $90,000 of its $3 million budget, station manager Lamar Marchese said. The cut would put more pressure on the station to raise the short-fall in public fundraising, which already pays for about 90 percent of the station budget, he said.
The proposed House cut also would eliminate a $330,000 grant for the station to begin an analogue-to-digital transition for KNPR and three rural stations it owns in Ely, Tonopah and Panaca, Marchese said.
"We're hopeful that Congress will restore either partially or fully what they have proposed to cut," Marchese said.
At issue is a $100 million cut approved last week by the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee to next year's budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides federal funding to public broadcasters, including PBS and National Public Radio. That's 25 percent of CPB's budget.
The panel also provided no funding for Ready-to-Learn, a joint project between PBS and the Education Department that focuses on early learning and includes children's shows such as "Arthur" and "Dragon Tales." President Bush had requested $23 million for the program, which typically enjoys bipartisan support.
The full House on Thursday was expected to debate a spending bill for labor, health and education programs, which included the public broadcasting money.
Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Jon Porter, R-Nev., also generally oppose cuts to public broadcasting, although their aides noted that if the $100 million is restored it will have to be cut from another labor, health or education program.
Efforts are being made in the Senate to restore the funding, said Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Several Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., held a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday with the costumed character Clifford the Big Red Dog to protest the budget cuts.
Democrats have complained about Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson. A Republican, Tomlinson has alleged there is a liberal bias in PBS public affairs programming -- a charge PBS officials deny.
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