Several hours after Utah’s U.S. senators voted to claw back funding from the nation’s public broadcasting system, the state’s GOP governor stood at a podium Thursday for his monthly news conference broadcast statewide on PBS Utah.
Sitting alongside journalists from Utah’s major news outlets, the station’s reporter, Lauren Steinbrecher, asked: “What response do you have for the impact that this could have on Utahns, especially in rural areas?”
Gov. Spencer Cox said he agrees with some of the criticisms leveled by President Donald Trump and other Republicans that national programming produced by National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service is “hyper-partisan,” but he has concerns.
“One of the things I’m most worried about is that these cuts actually won’t do what some members of Congress think they will do,” Cox replied, “in that PBS and NPR will go on still probably doing what they do, but the locals, PBS Utah, who are doing great things and great programs like this — which I hope add some value — these are the things that are going to be cut. These are the things that will fall away.”
“He’s right,” said Maria O’Mara, the CEO of PBS Utah and Salt Lake City-based NPR member station KUER, in an interview afterward.
Formally, the Rescissions Act of 2025 is a rare presidential request to exert powers to limit spending that are typically reserved for Congress. It also takes aim at foreign aid.
Such efforts by Trump have had significant backing from the senior member of Utah’s federal delegation, Sen. Mike Lee, who proposed repealing the act that requires the president to go through Congress to pause spending.
All six members of Utah’s congressional delegation voted to pass the rescissions bill into law. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted at around midnight to agree to amendments passed Thursday in the Senate.
None of Utah’s federal delegation immediately responded to requests for comment Friday. On Thursday, however, Lee posted from his official Senate account on X, “NPR and PBS should be thrilled that the American people are ‘looting’ back their own money by defunding them.”
In her congressional newsletter published Friday afternoon, Rep. Celeste Maloy said, “This effort delivers on a core promise Republicans made to the American people: to cut reckless spending and ensure taxpayer dollars are used wisely.“
A spokesperson for Rep. Blake Moore responded to The Salt Lake Tribune with a statement over the weekend, saying, “This vote is another step in the right direction in reversing Washington’s spending culture.”
Presidents from both parties have made rescissions requests in the past, Moore’s statement continued. “The difference now is that Congress has agreed that these rescissions are appropriate and didn’t let the proposals expire,” it said.
More than two-thirds of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s budget goes to local stations like PBS Utah, which produces content aimed at educating residents about what’s happening in their community. PBS CEO Paula Kerger told The Tribune last month that defunding the organization would be “devastating” for community-focused public media.
Critics of the measure have raised concerns beyond how it might affect programs that promote government accountability, like the governor’s news conference, but also how cuts could reduce Americans’ access to vital information during emergencies and natural disasters.
According to O’Mara, PBS Utah will lose about $2 million annually, and KUER will receive around $500,000 less. That represents just under 20% of PBS Utah’s budget, and just under 10% of KUER’s.
Because the stations O’Mara oversees have money left over from previous years’ budgets, she said, she’s not looking at making cuts immediately.
“However,” O’Mara added, “$2.5 million across both stations every single year — there will have to be some very difficult conversations and decisions about local service that will have to diminish in some way. It’s just too much of our budget not to plan for that."
Following passage of the bill, the stations are immediately launching fundraising campaigns. “But nobody is under the illusion that we can fundraise ourselves out of this sort of loss,” O’Mara said.
While they may see some reduction in local reporting and programming, both PBS Utah and KUER are likely to survive the cuts. The University of Utah holds the licenses for both stations.
Others throughout the state, however, may not have the same stability.
Another Salt Lake City NPR member station, KCPW, was purchased by KUER and PBS Utah nearly two years ago when confronted with financial problems. That frequency now offers public radio programming in both Spanish and English.
To survive in their current form, all stations that relied on support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which largely already operate robust fundraising campaigns — will have to ask the communities they were created to serve for more help than ever before.
In an email to listeners Thursday afternoon, Salt Lake City-based community radio station KRCL said it expects to lose 10% of its funding over the next couple years, amounting to about $140,000.
“The news is bad, but KRCL has weathered many storms before,” the station wrote, reminding supporters that the first song it aired was folk singer Pete Seeger’s rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”
In Park City, public radio listeners woke up Friday to a plea for donations from NPR member station KPCW, which said it now faces a $264,000 budgetary shortfall for the coming year — roughly 15% of its operating revenue.
“This is funding we counted on to deliver the daily local news, information and programming you expect from KPCW,” an email read. “Now, we’re turning to you.”
Note to readers, Monday, July 21, 5:15 p.m. • This story has been updated to include a statement from Reps. Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore.
