Times are tough, we know, which is why budgets are being cut at every level of government, in private businesses and in homes.
However, pulling 20 percent of an organization’s funding at the end of the budget process is excessive.
Last week, Gov. Paul LePage made a last-minute recommendation to eliminate 100 percent of state funding for Maine Public Broadcasting Network for the two-year budget cycle starting on July 1.
MPBN President Jim Dowe released a statement saying that the state appropriation represents 19 percent of the network’s annual operating budget, at $1.9 million for fiscal years 2012 and 2013.
The appropriation provides funding to enable the statewide broadcast of MPBN services, Dowe said, and a 1992 statute requires the state to “fund an annual appropriation for operating, constructing, equipping, maintaining, improving and replacing facilities of the corporation must be made in amounts sufficient to ensure delivery of broadcast sources throughout the state.”
LePage also proposed that provision of the statute be eliminated.
While the state may need to reduce funding to MPBN, eliminating funding would drastically impact Maine programming and most likely result in the loss of many jobs.
MPBN ”“ and the Public Broadcasting Service ”“ provide quality, educational programming for all ages that is not being done by any other network. The children’s programming like “Sesame Street” and “Barney & Friends” help children learn important information like numbers, letters and spelling in addition to life skills.
Local programs like “Maine Watch” provide in-depth reports on statewide public affairs while “Financial Aid for College” helps students and their parents plan and prepare for educational costs.
Without state funding, the future of these programs and many jobs is unclear.
People continue to say that non-profit organizations need to stop benefiting from public funding and go out and raise funds like their private counter parts, but many private companies benefit just as much ”“ if not more ”“ than non-profits through tax breaks and incentives. That lost revenue is costing taxpayers as well.
The solution is not to do away with tax breaks altogether, nor do away with funding for public broadcasting. The solution is to find a balance.
If the state needs to save more money, a small cut to MPBN and to other organizations could make up some savings while preserving the services those organizations provide and most of the jobs of Maine people who are employed by those groups.
Legislators need to carefully consider the budget proposal in front of them and balance the budget through shared sacrifice ”“ not through snuffing out public programs and non-profit funding.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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