Grants Budget May Get Slashed in Kansas

According to an article in the Wichita Eagle, funding for public broadcasting may get cut by about $900,000 in Kansas. The state Legislature proposed the cuts this past weekend. The amount is more than half the grant money originally set aside for public broadcasting. For station in the more populous eastern Kansas, the cuts represent about a 4% drop in funding. For stations in the rural western part of state, the cuts will be more deeply felt and could all but eliminate local programming.

Those stations traditionally receive more funding because they cover more territory and have fewer             viewers and listeners. Smoky Hill covers 71 counties in Kansas; High Plains, half the state.
"It amounts to 15 percent of our operating budget," said Lynn Meredith, general manager and CEO of Smoky Hills Public Television. "It is going to affect local programming," Meredith said. "We are already running with a fairly slim staff."


 In all cases, stations have about six weeks to figure out how to offset the shortfall before they take effect on July 1.

Budget slashes funds for public broadcasting - Becky Tanner