Like many states, Louisiana is struggling with falling tax revenues and having to cut the state budget. That could mean big cutbacks for public television.
The proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st will cut $1.7 million, or 20%, from the budget for the Louisiana Educational TV Authority. That agency provides the backbone infrastructure for Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB). According to the budget proposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), LPB is supposed to fill that gap with “fees and self-generated revenues.”
But LPB President Beth Courtney told the New Orleans Times-Picayune she doesn’t know where those self-generated funds might come from. She noted that when faced with a similar budget crunch in the 1980s, LPB had to stop broadcasting on Fridays to cut costs.
