Following an outpouring of support from residents of Washington County, as well as from legislators from around the state, the legislature's Education and Cultural Affairs Committee gave unanimous support on February 12 to a bill sponsored by Senator Kevin Raye of Perry that precludes Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) from targeting rural areas for a loss of service. LD 266, An Act to Preserve Statewide Public Broadcasting, now goes to the Senate and House of Representatives for consideration.

Raye sponsored the legislation in response to the announcement by MPBN that it intended to shut down the transmission towers providing service to the residents of Washington and northern Aroostook counties. "The people of Washington County and Aroostook County are taxpaying citizens of the State of Maine. Their tax dollars, just like those of Kennebec County residents or York County residents, go toward the support of Maine Public Broadcasting," testified Raye. "The notion of taking away the benefits of MPBN, while continuing to demand from them their tax dollar support, was deeply troubling. And, unfortunately, it is precisely the type of action that feeds the divisive perception of 'two Maines.'"

Raye enlisted the co-sponsorship of 34 other legislators representing all 16 Maine counties, and Governor John Baldacci voiced his support as well. The legislative committee received 115 e-mails, in addition to e-mails and phone calls received by individual legislators. Rep. Howard McFadden of Dennysville, who serves on the Education Committee, told those at the hearing that he had heard from more constituents on this issue than he had from any other in his over four years in Augusta.

"There was a huge outpouring on this issue, not just from one town like Lubec. It was all the way to Milbridge and to Calais," points out Robert Judd of Lubec, who was one of the Washington County residents who campaigned for MPBN to reverse its decision. "Couple that level of community voice with the absolutely brilliant strategy by Kevin Raye that gave MPBN no room to wriggle. He made it a statewide issue instead of a local issue."

Washington County residents came from as far away as Eastport to testify in support of the bill, and all delivered a consistent message of the value that MPBN has to their communities.

"The whole process was frustrating, because we had to do it," says Dennis Mahar of Pembroke, who was one of the Washington County residents who attended the LD 266 hearing. "Everybody around here feels the same. When they need to tighten budgets, we get to be the target."

"I told them I hope we don't have to do this again," reports Mahar. "This was a method for [MPBN] to try to extract monies from the legislature and keep on doing business as usual instead of tightening their budget."

While rejecting MPBN's plan to target rural areas, Raye praised MPBN for other cost-cutting measures, which include salary and benefit cuts for staff. He closed his testimony by quoting from MPBN's vision statement: "The enterprise will help lead Maine towards its bright future."

Of the LD 266 hearing outcome, Judd says, "The threat of amputation has been removed, and we will continue to receive the same level of service as everyone else in the state." He describes public radio and television, to many people in rural Maine, as being "our lifeline to the larger world. It is our constant companion, our classroom, our stimulant of choice" and quoted from the legislation that created MPBN in 1992. "The legislature intends that the state support and provide funding [to MPBN]... to meet the costs of delivering broadcast services so that all of the people of the state may share equitably in the advantages of public broadcasting... regardless of geographic location."

"I think MPBN recognizes now that it made a huge mistake in judgment by proposing to shut down our broadcast towers as a way to resolve its severe budget problems," he adds. "Let's remember, however, that it has brought us unique programs and good services since 1992. I hope we can find a way to heal the wounds, to provide MPBN an opportunity to regain our respect and support."

Amendment added

Susan Cook of Bath, a frequent visitor to Washington County who is concerned that "the public in public broadcasting is becoming invisible," asked for an amendment to LD 266 that would include "a portion exploring additional means of giving oversight to MPBN's decision-making process." The amendment would establish a commission to review the accountability of Maine Public Broadcasting Network and would direct the commission to submit its report to the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee by November 5, 2009.

The Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted unanimously to pass the bill as amended, and committee chairman Rep. David Deschaine reports, "We're just waiting for the language of the amendment to come back so we can made sure it matches up with the intent."

Response from MPBN

“One thing in which MPBN takes pride is its listening ability, that is, we hear what our listeners and viewers are saying. And we heard that they wanted us to maintain our presence in eastern and northern Maine. We also heard our governor and legislators' concerns," said MPBN President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dowe on the MPBN website. "We pride ourselves in being good stewards of the appropriations we receive from the state and federal governments as well as all our individual, business and organization supporters. That is why we have made the difficult decisions such as reducing staffing and compensation, as painful as that was. And we will continue to do whatever it takes to maintain MPBN's broadcast statewide.