HB1008 provides $6.24 million to the Arkansas Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for “Educational Television.”

The House passed HB1008 on May 1, 2024, by a vote of 78 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the nays because “educational television” is not the role of government—it’s an activity that belongs solely within the private sector. Arkansas PBS, as well as the millions in taxpayer funds it receives, is tied to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, an organization created by Congress under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, but which is unauthorized according to Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. The American people are to be the censors of their government, and any form of federally or state-sponsored mass media should be considered a blatant encroachment on freedom of speech and the press. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment were precisely written to protect the liberties of the people, even children, from government propaganda.