Washington State Public Broadcasting Commission

The Washington State Public Broadcasting Commission was created on 12 June 1980. The basic purposes of the Commission were to act as an advocate of public broadcasting within the state, to acquire funds from the state legislature for distribution to the noncommercial, television and radio stations in Washington and to improve public broadcasting by developing a State Plan for Public Broadcasting. The legislation establishing the Commission, State House Bill 542, was signed into law by Gov. Dixy Lee Ray on 11 Mar. 1980. The governor vetoed three sections of the bill before signing it. The sections vetoed had stated the purpose of the legislation and the allocation formula for potential state broadcasting station assistance grants. The veto weakened the Commission by leaving the its purpose unclear and by calling into question its authority to distribute funds. The remaining portions of the bill provided for a Public Broadcasting Commission made up of nine members serving four year terms, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate. The new Public Broadcasting Commission replaced the Washington State Educational Television Commission. The staff of the Commission consisted of an executive director and a secretary, as well as two temporarily employed research analysts engaged to write the State Plan. The Commission first met in Aug. 1980, and proceeded to establish a working office. An executive director, Robert Boston, was hired in September and an office was furnished by December. Research analysts were hired in January and Apr. 1981. Once the Commission was staffed, work began on the State Plan. The primary achievement of the Commission was writing the "Washington State Plan for Telecommunications 1982." A "Sunset Review" audit of the Commission was carried out in Apr. 1982. The auditor found that the basic purpose and potential value of the Commission was to allocate funds appropriated by the legislature to public broadcasting stations. As the legislature had not approved any funds for this purpose and as the Commission was unable to convince the legislature to do so, the auditor deemed the Commission to be unnecessary. The auditor felt that the activities carried out by the Commission could be done as well and without cost to the state by the stations themselves, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the various public broadcasting organizations. The Commission continued to make a serious effort to meet its responsibilities, but was weakened by the governor's partial veto, lack of support from the legislature, staff cutbacks and a series of operating budget cuts. The Commission terminated on 30 June 1983 on the recommendation of the Sunset Review audit.