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House State Government Committee members urge funding for PPTN

HARRISBURG, May 8 – Several members of the House State Government Committee have sent a letter to the governor expressing their desire to see at least a partial restoration of state funding to the eight public television stations in the Commonwealth.

State funding for PPTN is eliminated from the governor's proposed budget that he unveiled in February.

State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., chairwoman of the committee, sent the letter to Gov. Ed Rendell on behalf of the committee members after a public hearing was held by the committee last week on the issue. The members heard testimony on the proposed changes to the structure and funding of PPTN, including the administration's efforts to restructure it and merge its function and employees into the Office of Administration.

"With changes in technology and the bleak economy, your efforts to streamline these functions and save the taxpayers millions of dollars are commendable," the letter said.

"We also heard from the individual public television stations, educators and members of the community who rely on public television. From their testimony, it became obvious to us that public television plays as an essential role in our communities. It is vital to health and safety, and contributes much to our children's education and development. Furthermore, for some Pennsylvanians, it is the only exposure to the fine arts.

"It is our hope that you would be open to restoring some or all the funding to the eight public television stations across the Commonwealth. These monies could be distributed by the current PPTN Commissioners or perhaps by the Department of Education with specific education requirements attached to the funds."

Josephs said that the elimination of state assistance could mean the complete shutdown for at least two of the public stations: WQLN and WBYE.

The letter was also signed by state Reps. Glenn Grell, Mike Carroll, Rick Taylor, Greg Vitali, Kerry Benninghoff, Dan Frankel, Dave Millard, Flo Fabrizio, Jaret Gibbons and Mike O'Brien.

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A copy of the letter follows.

May 4, 2009

The Honorable Edward G. Rendell

Governor of Pennsylvania

225 Main Capitol

Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Governor Rendell:

The House State Government Committee held a public hearing on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 to hear testimony on the proposed changes to the structure and funding of the Pennsylvania Public Television Network (PPTN).

Secretary of Administration Wyatt and others testified about the administration's efforts to fundamentally restructure PPTN and merge its function and employees into the Office of Administration. With changes in technology and the bleak economy, your efforts to streamline these functions and save the taxpayers millions of dollars are commendable.

We also heard from the individual public television stations, educators and members of the community who rely on public television. From their testimony, it became obvious to us that public television plays as an essential role in our communities. It is vital to health and safety, and contributes much to our children's education and development. Furthermore, for some Pennsylvanians, it is the only exposure to the fine arts.

For at least two of the stations, WQLN and MiND (WBYE), the elimination of state assistance could result in a complete shutdown of their operations.

It is my hope that you would be open to restoring some or all the funding to the eight public television stations across the Commonwealth. These monies could be distributed by the current PPTN Commissioners or perhaps by the Department of Education with specific education requirements attached to the funds.

Yours,

Babette Josephs