Senate votes to cut public media funding - House vote expected today

Dear KUAF listeners and supporters,

I'm writing with an urgent update on the federal funding situation I shared with you earlier this week and that we’ve been sharing with you for some time.

What happened overnight: The U.S. Senate passed H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, by a vote of 51-48 early this morning. The bill cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports local public media stations like KUAF, NPR, and PBS.

Because the Senate made changes to the original House bill, it now returns to the House for another vote, which is expected later today or by the end of this week.

What this means for KUAF: If enacted, these cuts would eliminate nearly $193,000 in annual federal funding—16% of our operating budget—and will cost far more than that to replace because of the defunding of shared CPB services and licenses. This threatens the vital services our 750,000 listeners across Northwest Arkansas, the Arkansas River Valley, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma depend on: trusted local news, emergency weather alerts, and the community storytelling that connects us across our differences.

What you can do right now:

1. Learn more at Protect My Public Media or goACPR.org.
2. Share this information with others who value local news, emergency alerts, and community programming.
3. Support KUAF directly by making a donation to help us weather this potential funding loss.

What remains true is that KUAF's service will be as strong as the support it gets from the community it serves. Our communities need listeners who are able to donate monthly to do so, for existing contributors to dig deeper, and for all who value this vital community resource to step up.

Thank you for standing with KUAF Public Radio during this critical moment.

Clint Schaff

General Manager

KUAF Public Radio