Take CPB Funding Off the Chopping Block

Opportunity Editorial by Loris Taylor

Native Public Media, President and CEO

In Washington, few actions move faster, or carry heavier consequences, than a rescission package. Once the President submits a rescission proposal to Congress, lawmakers have 45 days to act. If they approve, lawmakers can permanently cancel billions in previously allocated federal funds. Now on the chopping block is funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a foundational resource for Tribal radio and television stations across Indian Country.

The loss of CPB funding would be devastating. But amid this high-stakes debate, Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota has offered a lifeline, one worth recognizing, even if it’s not yet fully viable. His proposal, posted on X, suggests replacing CPB funding for Tribal stations with monies from the Green New Deal (GND) framework. On its surface, it sounds promising. Use climate-oriented federal dollars to back Indigenous media. Unfortunately, this idea, although well-intentioned, encounters significant structural roadblocks.

The Green New Deal is not a funding program. It’s a visionary framework focused on combating climate change and stimulating a just transition to clean energy. Its related investments, such as those under the Inflation Reduction Act, are largely administered by agencies like the Department of Energy, not designed to fund public communications, journalism, or emergency broadcast systems. Redirecting GND-aligned funds to support Tribal radio would require sweeping legislative changes, an uphill battle in today’s political environment.

Native Public Media welcomes any conversation that puts Tribal media on the national agenda. We are grateful to Senator Rounds for lifting up this issue and proposing alternatives. But we must be honest, replacing CPB funding with GND dollars is neither administratively feasible nor fiscally sustainable in the short term.

CPB’s role is irreplaceable. It supports a national system of trusted local stations. Stations that serve as the only sources of news, cultural programming, and emergency alerts in many Tribal communities. CPB connects these communities to life-saving alerts through the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). These are not luxuries. They are part of the public safety infrastructure that saves lives.

GND funding, while critical to addressing the climate crisis, is already stretched thin across clean energy, transportation, and environmental justice priorities. Diverting those funds risks undermining both climate goals and the stability of Tribal media. And unlike CPB, which was explicitly created to support public broadcasting, GND programs come with barriers that make them inaccessible to the very stations this proposal hopes to help.

Tribal radio stations operate on tight budgets. Most cannot apply for competitive federal energy grants while also maintaining daily broadcast services. Asking them to pivot to climate funding, without a clear and dedicated pathway, sets them up to fail.

We call on Congress to reject any measure that would eliminate or reduce CPB funding for Tribal media. Instead, we urge lawmakers to follow Senator Rounds’ lead in recognizing the importance of Tribal stations and take it further. Rather than replace CPB, strengthen it. Protect this cornerstone of Tribal sovereignty, cultural preservation, civic engagement, and emergency response.

The future of Tribal media and the communities it serves depends on it.