Arizona PBS General Manager on House vote to cut $1.1B public media funding

On Tuesday, June 12, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a rescission request that would claw back $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which contributes to funding for Arizona PBS.

The bill passed on a 214 to 212 vote margin, with all but four House Republicans voting for it and all House Democrats voting against it. All six of Arizona’s House Republicans voted for the bill, and both of Arizona’s House Democrats voted against the bill.

Scott Woelfel, General Manager of Arizona PBS, joined “Arizona Horizon” to explain what happens next for public media as the bill heads to the U.S. Senate.

Now that the House has voted to pass this rescission measure, Woelfel spoke to what will happen next as it moves into the hands of the Senate.

“Because of the way this is presented is a simple majority vote is not subject to filibuster rules at this point. The Senate parliamentarian has said that the Senate must vote on this by July 18, if not by then, then those privilege rules would run out and it would be subject to filibuster. At which point it would not go forward but, July 18 is the date,” Woelfel said.

Woelfel shared some insight on the support that he has seen for public media both locally and nationally.

“About half a million emails went to Congress over the last week alone in support of public media and many thousands of phone calls as well. And I think that’s why the vote was very close and that four Republicans did vote no on it. The Senate’s a different animal, its you know, we have two Democratic senators here. I’ve spoken to both of them, they both strongly support public media and will vote no on the bill,” Woelfel said.