Tribal Radio Stations Wait on $9M Pledged in Congressional Handshake Deal

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. center . (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Tribal radio stations that are supposed to receive millions to fill the hole created when Congress eliminated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting haven’t heard anything from the Trump administration about when it will send the money or how much in grants they’ll receive.

Unlike most government spending deals, the handshake agreement South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds negotiated with the White House budget director in exchange for Rounds’ vote on the rescissions bill wasn’t placed in the legislation, so it never became law.

Instead, Rounds is trusting the Trump administration to move $9.4 million in funding from an undisclosed account to more than two dozen tribal radio stations in rural areas of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin that receive community service grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

But neither Rounds’ office, the Office of Management and Budget, nor the Bureau of Indian Affairs responded to emails from States Newsroom asking when the grants would be sent to those radio stations and whether the funding level would be equal to what they currently receive.