Yesterday, Governor Bob McDonnell used a single line-item veto to carve $424,000 from Virginia’s two-year, $78 billion budget. The source? Public broadcasting, which McDonnell previously targeted for roughly $4 million in cuts over the next two years.
"In today’s free market, with hundreds of radio and television programs, government should not be subsidizing one particular group of stations," wrote McDonnell in an e-mailed statement. "We must get serious about government spending. That means funding our core functions well, and eliminating spending on programs and services that should be left to the private sector."
Arlington Senator Mary Margaret Whipple (D) told the Washington Post that McDonnell’s persistence in cutting funds to public broadcasting was "mind-boggling," and said that the cuts come at the expense of children, who benefit from educational programming provided by public stations. Combined with previously announced reductions in state grants, the public broadcasting budget for Fiscal year 2012 will be roughly $1 million less than its current budget. According to the Roanoke Times, McDonnell’s cut translates to a loss of $60,000 to Blue Ridge Public Broadcasting Station.
