After months of concern that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) would be defunded, thus revoking federal dollars which local public radio stations rely on, the Rescissions Act was signed by President Donald Trump on July 24. According to www.congress.gov, the act revoked $9.4 billion — at the recommendation of the Trump administration — in “unobligated” funds to the “Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development [and] various independent and related agencies,” which included $1.1 billion previously earmarked for CPB for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
The Senate passed the bill by 51-48, and the House by 214-212.
The Sopris Sun reached out to Colorado’s Third Congressional District House Representative Jeff Hurd, who voted in favor of the bill, and received a single-paragraph response that had already been referenced in other news coverage:
“The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 provides the President a formal pathway to propose rescissions of appropriated spending. I voted in favor of the Rescissions Act because it represents a small step forward in curtailing government spending by clawing back non-life-saving foreign aid and taxpayer-funded radio programming. I am reassured by commitments my colleagues and I in both chambers of Congress secured to prohibit cuts to essential, lifesaving foreign aid programs such as [the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] and international food aid, as well as redirecting unused climate change funding to tribal radio stations. As Congress ultimately controls the power of the purse, I look forward to working with my colleagues to preserve and strengthen essential services and programs as the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process continues.”
When The Sun asked Hurd’s office to elaborate, including asking if he listens to public radio, there was no response.
Hurd’s statement was received by The Sun following the Senate Appropriations Committee’s July 31 decision to exclude funding for CPB in its Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. Following that news, CPB President and CEO Pat Harrison sent an email to public radio stations across the country letting them know that the national nonprofit would “begin taking steps toward an orderly and responsible shutdown.” CPB plans to let go of most of its staff by the end of the congressional fiscal year (Sept. 30) and leave a transitional team in place through January 2026, before officially closing its doors after nearly 60 years.
Historically, CPB has allocated community service grants to public radio stations each year with its appropriated funds. Without these grants, KDNK stands to suffer a loss of about $174,000 annually, Aspen Public Radio $210,000 and KVNF, based in Paonia, $161,500.
Outside of the community service grants, CPB has also subsidized things like music licensing and satellite interconnection for stations nationwide. Ahead of CPB announcing its impending closure, National Public Radio (NPR) member stations received a breakdown of what this additional funding gap could look like respectively. For KDNK, its costs covered by federal funds (outside of the community service grant) were estimated at $51,733. The breakdown from NPR also factored in staff-time and resources needed to make up the deficit — estimated at $83,809 for the Carbondale station. Therefore, KDNK’s overall “cost to replace lost federal funds” (including the yearly grant) was estimated at $310,321. In the case of APR, those additional costs covered by CPB amount to $62,172, plus nearly $100,000 in staff time and resources to fill the hole, bringing its total estimated gap to $372,943.
“There’s some core functional stuff we have to figure out how to do, and not just replicate, but do better, do smarter, do more cooperatively,” said Aspen Public Radio Executive Director Breeze Richardson. “We’re going to stay engaged with the national infrastructure and colleagues around the country as we try to do more with less.”
Following the Rescissions Act, KDNK has aired calls for support and about 40 new members have joined, according to Station Manager Megan Passmore. KDNK is also working on expanding its “major donors” list — members who contribute $500 or more a year.
Cutting programming is not in the cards for KDNK at this point, and wouldn’t be enough to replace the loss. “Can I cut programming and make up that number? The answer is no,” said Passmore. If KDNK dropped NPR and syndicated programming, she estimated it might save the station around $70,000. Likewise, neither APR nor KVNF plan to cut programming.
According to Richardson, about one in 10 listeners donate to APR. “In our budget this year, we have $282,000 that we anticipate receiving from individual contributions,” she stated. “If those were matched dollar for dollar by a second of 10 listeners, we would make up that funding gap.”
KVNF’s fundraising strategy for the year ahead will be divided into three parts: 1) an initial Save Our Station (SOS) drive that wrapped up on Tuesday, Aug. 6 with a goal of $50,000; 2) major donor contributions; and 3) through foundations and grants. At the end of its SOS drive, General Manager Ashley Krest reported that KVNF doubled its goal, raising over $100,000.
APR concluded a membership drive recently and exceeded its $25,000 goal, with donations still rolling in as of Wednesday, Aug. 6.
“We’re not going anywhere,” concluded Richardson. “The question is: How do we move forward?”