Important Action Needed to Save PTFP

It seems that we face this threat every year—but this time the opponents of the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) are very close to eliminating it. We are not crying wolf. We need everyone’s help to save PTFP.

As many of you know, the PTFP grant program is under particular attack right now. Not only has the current Presidential Administration failed to include any funding in its budget for PTFP, they have targeted PTFP as a wasteful program that should be eliminated altogether in order to cut the deficit, particularly since both Republican and Democratic Administrations have not supported the program in the past. So far, the Administration has attacked PTFP in several high-profile ways, including identifying PTFP as one of only four programs in the whole government that are examples of why the President wants a line item veto.

Furthermore, Representative Charles A. Wilson (D-Ohio) has introduced a bill to repeal PTFP, established under a provision of the Communications Act of 1934, and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) filed a separate piece of legislation to cut 17 federal funding programs, including PTFP.

As legislators get ready to come home in August, we want NFCB members and concerned stations to send letters or set up meetings with their members of Congress to discuss supporting PTFP.

Below are several documents that can be used to understand the situation and relay the information to Congressional representatives: a one page hand-out, a sample letter of support, and a short info sheet more easily digestible for those of you who have a chance to talk about it with a member of Congress. There is also a brief document (NFCB’s testimony before the Senate) outlining our support for PTFP. Please contact your legislators to explain to them your support of the program. Many of these attacks are based on misinformation. The attached documents explain the facts.

• One page hand-out on PTFP (pdf, 61k)
• Short info sheet on PTFP (pdf, 49)
• Call to Action from Native Public Media (doc, 135k)
• NFCB’s testimony before the Senate outlining our support for PTFP (pdf, 217k)
• PTFP Letter of Support with Congressional Signatures (doc, 29k)
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Report to Congress: April 12, 2010 (doc, 74k)
• Sample letter of support (doc, 29k)