Latest news with #funding
CBC
7 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
New funding coming to address public safety
New funding has been announced to address public safety for local businesses across B.C. As Johna Baylon reports, the money will go towards police initiatives, including projects in partnership with local communities.
ABC News
7 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Victorian teachers plan to escalate their fight for more government funding of state schools
Victorian teachers are considering mass rallies targeting the premier, education minister and treasurer in response to what they say is massive underfunding of public schools. Earlier this month, Nine newspapers claimed the government had ripped $2.4 billion from school budgets by delaying its commitment to the Gonski education reforms by three years. The Age reported the savings were signed off by the premier. Jacinta Allan denied her government had withdrawn from its Gonski funding commitment. The Australian Education Union Victorian branch has written to all state school teachers outlining plans to escalate their campaign for better funding, including asking parents to join in mass emails to Ms Allan and Education Minister Ben Carroll, as well as public rallies. Branch president Justin Mullaly said those rallies would be outside school hours and would target the offices of Ms Allan and Mr Carroll, as well as Treasurer Jaclyn Symes. "The government has been duplicitous," Mr Mullaly said. "On the one hand they say that they are promoting the education state and that they're going to fully fund public schools, yet they're not actually planning at all on delivering the money for that." Mr Mullaly said the rallies would also target other senior MPs, but no dates had been set for the action. "We don't do this lightly; we don't engage in activities like this just at the drop of a hat," he said. "This is in response to a complete failure of the state government to deliver the funding the students in our schools need and to provide the resources that teachers, principals and education staff support need." The government said Victoria signed an agreement with the federal government in January that would secure 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) for Victorian government schools by 2034. "Our priority is — and has always been — that every child, no matter where they live, has access to a world-class education for free in a Victorian government school backed by full and fair funding," Mr Carroll said. He said the state government would provide 75 per cent of the SRS, which would see increased funding in stages during the term of the agreement. "The Victorian government is currently finalising these discussions with the Commonwealth," Mr Carroll said. "I will not be negotiating with the Commonwealth through the media."
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
PBS sues Trump for stripping its funds
PBS has filed a lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump and other administration officials to block his order stripping federal funding from the 330-station public television system, three days after NPR did the same for its radio network. In its lawsuit filed on Friday, PBS relied on similar arguments, saying Trump was overstepping his authority and engaging in 'viewpoint discrimination' because of his claim that PBS's news coverage is biassed against conservatives. 'PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms,' lawyer Z W Julius Chen wrote in the suit, filed in US District Court in Washington, DC. 'But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS's programming, including by attempting to defund PBS.' It was the latest of many legal actions taken against the administration for its moves, including several by media organisations impacted by Trump's orders. PBS was joined as a plaintiff by one of its stations, Lakeland PBS, which serves rural areas in northern and central Minnesota. Trump's order is an 'existential threat' to the station, the lawsuit said. A PBS spokesman said that 'after careful deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard public television's editorial independence, and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations'. Through an executive order earlier this month, Trump told the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies to stop funding the two systems. Through the corporation alone, PBS is receiving $325m this year, most of which goes directly to individual stations. The White House deputy press secretary, Harrison Fields, said the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime. 'Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS,' Fields said. 'The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective.' PBS, which makes much of the programming used by the stations, said it gets 22 percent of its revenue directly from the feds. Sixty-one percent of PBS's budget is funded through individual station dues, and the stations raise the bulk of that money through the government. Trump's order 'would have profound impacts on the ability of PBS and PBS member stations to provide a rich tapestry of programming to all Americans', Chen wrote. PBS said the US Department of Education has cancelled a $78m grant to the system for educational programming, used to make children's shows like Sesame Street, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Reading Rainbow. For Minnesota residents, the order threatens the Lakeland Learns education programme and Lakeland News, described in the lawsuit as the only television programme in the region providing local news, weather and sports. Besides Trump, the lawsuit names other administration officials as defendants, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. PBS says its technology is used as a backup for the nationwide wireless emergency alert system. The administration has fought with several media organisations. Government-run news services like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are struggling for their lives. The Associated Press has battled with the White House over press access, and the Federal Communications Commission is investigating television news divisions.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS £1.5 billion fund for repairs and new homes for troops as part of defence review
ARMED forces bosses are to spend an additional £1.5 billion on sprucing up military houses amid claims years of neglect contributed to troops quitting. The new funding, as part of the Strategic Defence Review, will support urgently needed repairs and the long-term renewal of service quarters across the country. Last year, the Ministry of Defence brought back 36,347 military homes into public ownership after private contractors failed to meet basic standards. Soldiers and their families had been forced to live in appalling conditions with ceilings collapsing, mould-infested bathrooms and kitchens and rodents. The appalling quality of accommodation featured prominently in surveys as a major reason why so many troops were choosing to terminate their military careers. Last night, Defence Secretary John Healey, said: 'Our armed forces personnel make extraordinary sacrifices to serve our country. 'For too long, many military families have lived in sub-standard homes. But this government is taking decisive action to fix the dire state of military accommodation and ensure our heroes and their loved ones live in the homes they deserve.
Fox News
11 hours ago
- General
- Fox News
PBS sues Trump administration, says executive order cutting federal funding violates First Amendment
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is suing the Trump administration over its efforts to cut the network's federal funding, calling the move "unconstitutional." "[In] an Executive Order issued on May 1, 2025, the President declared that government funding of private sources of non-commercial media is 'corrosive,' and singled out PBS (alongside National Public Radio) as failing to provide 'fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news,'" the court filing obtained by Fox News Digital reads. "PBS disputes those charged assertions in the strongest possible terms. But regardless of any policy disagreements over the role of public television, our Constitution and laws forbid the President from serving as the arbiter of the content of PBS's programming, including by attempting to defund PBS," it continued. The lawsuit, which names Northern Minnesota Public Television as a co-plaintiff, lists several defendants, including President Donald Trump, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "Indeed, since Congress laid the foundations for the growth of public television over 50 years ago, it has repeatedly protected the flow of federal funds from political interference by filtering them through a non-federal, non-profit, and non-partisan entity—the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ('CPB')—and by providing for long-term appropriations," it said. "Lest there be any doubt that the Executive Branch should have no power to influence CPB's decision-making, Congress enacted a specific '[p]rohibition': no 'department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States' may 'exercise any direction, supervision, or control over public telecommunications, or over [CPB] or any of its grantees'—including with respect to 'the content or distribution of public telecommunications programs and services.'" "The EO violates not only those straightforward statutory restrictions but also the First Amendment. The EO makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is cutting off the flow of funds to PBS because of the content of PBS programming and out of a desire to alter the content of speech. That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and an infringement of PBS and PBS Member Stations' private editorial discretion," the filing continues. "The EO also seeks to impose an unconstitutional condition on PBS Member Stations' receipt of federal funds by prohibiting them from using federal funds to access PBS programming and services. And the EO smacks of retaliation for, among other things, perceived political slights in news coverage. That all transgresses the First Amendment's protection of both speech and freedom of the press." In a statement to Fox News Digital, a PBS spokesperson said, "After careful deliberation, PBS reached the conclusion that it was necessary to take legal action to safeguard public television's editorial independence, and to protect the autonomy of PBS member stations." "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS. The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective." Earlier this week, National Public Radio (NPR) and a trio of Colorado public radio stations similarly filed a lawsuit against Trump's executive order. "The Executive Order is a clear violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech and association, and freedom of the press. It is an affront to the rights of NPR and NPR's 246 Member stations, which are locally owned, nonprofit, noncommercial media organizations serving all 50 states and territories. Today, we challenge its constitutionality in the nation's independent courts," NPR CEO Katherine Maher said in a lengthy statement.
