Heinrich, Luján Host Roundtable on Public Broadcasting’s Vital Role in New Mexico
Roundtable follows Corporation for Public Broadcasting announcement that Republican budget cut requires it to wind down operations
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, hosted a roundtable with New Mexico’s public broadcasting stations to discuss how President Donald Trump and Republicans’ cuts to public radio and TV stations will harm communities across New Mexico, particularly rural and Tribal communities, many of which rely on public broadcasting as their primary source of information during life-or-death emergencies like wildfires, flash floods, and other catastrophic natural disasters.
PHOTO: Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Senate Appropriations Committee member, and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, host a roundtable with New Mexico’s public broadcasting stations to discuss public broadcasting’s vital role in New Mexico, August 7th, 2025.
The senators were joined by General Manager of NMPBS KNME-TV Franz Joachim, General Manager of KANW-FM Michael Brasher, General Manager of KUNM-FM Jeff Pope, Manager of KTBD-FM Barbara Maria, General Manager of KRWG-FM and TV Adrian Velarde, General Manager of KENW-FM and TV Porfirio Delgado, and Executive Director of The Children’s Hour Katie Stone.
“I am very much the person I am today because of public broadcasting,” said Heinrich. “To see the current hostility and the funding cuts that we've just experienced in Congress deeply concerns me, especially for a state like New Mexico that is so large and rural, where our rural and Tribal communities depend on public broadcasting for emergency services.”
Heinrich continued, “From daily news to kids’ shows to emergency alerts, public broadcasting is the lifeblood of our communities. These cuts will have real impacts on peoples’ lives.”
“Public broadcasting is part of the fabric of life for so many here in New Mexico and across the country. I was proud to join Senator Heinrich and leaders from New Mexico’s public broadcasting stations for a discussion about the educational, informative, and lifesaving emergency communications that public media provides. Despite the trusted, reliable information public broadcasting provides, the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans gutted funding for a service that provides critical information for all New Mexicans, especially in our rural and Tribal communities,” said Senator Luján, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media. “Hearing directly from our public broadcasters, one thing is clear: public broadcasting is a lifeline for communities in all corners of New Mexico. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, I’ll keep fighting to defend and support public media so New Mexicans have access to trusted, local information when it matters the most.”
Heinrich and Luján have stood firm for New Mexico families by voting against Senate Republicans’ rescissions package that cut funding to local public radio and TV stations, which provide lifesaving emergency alerts, news, and children’s education programming. Luján also offered a motion to the Republicans’ rescissions package to protect public broadcasting.
In the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Heinrich co-sponsored an amendment to restore funding for local public radio and TV stations through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Despite Heinrich’s efforts, the amendment was not included in the bill by the Committee for the first time in more than five decades. After the Committee left out Heinrich’s amendment to restore this funding, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced that it will begin to wind down its operations. Find Luján’s reaction to this announcement by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting here.
Additionally, Luján took to the Senate floor to call out the Trump Administration’s plan to defund public radio and television stations nationwide following deadly flooding in New Mexico and Texas, and joined Senate Democrats in continuing to sound the alarm on the dangers of cutting previously allocated federal funding for public broadcasting.
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