Following today’s passage of the Rescission Package, I wanted to share the below statement from Congressman Ryan Mackenzie:

“After taking a hard look at how taxpayer dollars are spent, the Trump administration and Congress are taking thoughtful action with a package focused on reining in wasteful spending. We’re rolling back $9 billion, including $1.1 billion from public broadcasting. Here in the Lehigh Valley, we’ve seen firsthand how public media outlets like Lehigh Valley Public Media (LVPM) have operated in a way that’s led to a deficit despite receiving federal funding and sitting on a $73 million endowment. For example, they paid one executive over $300,000, another over $200,000, and still cut 12% of their staff last year. Before asking taxpayers for more, these organizations should focus on fixing their own financial mismanagement.

“At a time of record deficits, we also ended federal funding by U.S. taxpayers for projects like $18 million to improve gender diversity in the Mexican street lighting industry, $6 million for a ‘Net Zero Cities’ program in Mexico, $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, and $882,000 for social media mentorship in Serbia and Belarus. We should be investing in American priorities, not footing the bill for programs that don’t serve our national interest.”

Information provided to TVL by:
Office of Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)