§ 236 — Public television and radio

§ 236. Public television and radio. 1. Short title. This section shall\nbe known and may be cited as the "Public Television and Radio Act of\nnineteen hundred seventy-eight".\n 2. Legislative findings and declaration of intent. In the years since\nNew York state's educational television act was passed in nineteen\nhundred fifty-four, public television in New York has made enormous\nstrides. Audiences which only a decade ago were calculated in the\nthousands now number in the millions. Approximately seven million New\nYork residents now view public television every week. Public television,\nwhich initially served only a handful of students, now brings nearly ten\nthousand hours annually of the best of the state's and the nation's\neducational programming to over one million two hundred thousand\nstudents in three thousand schools throughout the state. These programs\nare used by approximately fifty thousand teachers for direct classroom\ninstruction. Public television also provides the state's youngsters with\nsome twelve thousand hours annually of the finest children's programming\navailable including "Sesame Street", "Electric Company", "Zoom" and "Mr.\nRogers Neighborhood". In addition, public television provides a wealth\nof specialized programming in the educational and cultural arts designed\nfor viewing by, among others, minority and ethnic populations, senior\ncitizens, the unemployed, consumers and citizens interested in the\nperforming arts. It is the sense of the legislature that public\ntelevision's contributions to the people of New York state have been\nexceptional. Despite public broadcasting's great progress in New York\nstate in recent years, its full potential remains untapped. It is,\ntherefore, the intent of the legislature both to maintain and, expand\nthe role of public broadcasting in supplying educational, instructional\nand cultural programs to New Yorkers, as well as to enhance the state's\nrole in its partnership with its citizens so that this valuable state\nresource can be nurtured to its optimum potential.\n 3. Public television and radio corporations; creation and operation.\na. The board of regents may incorporate any group, institution or\nassociation for the purpose of constructing, owning, operating or\nmaintaining a non-profit and noncommercial public television station or\npublic television and/or radio station for providing educational\ntelevision and radio programs. Any such corporation shall be subject to\nall the provisions applicable to corporations created by the board of\nregents and, in addition, shall be subject to the provisions of this\nsection.\n b. The charter of any such corporation may be amended from time to\ntime, suspended, or revoked, upon the regents' own motion, after notice\nand an opportunity to be heard, before the board of regents or a\ncommittee thereof or a hearing officer designated by the board of\nregents.\n c. Each such corporation and all its operations and the powers and\nduties of its trustees and officers shall be subject to the general\nsupervision and control of the board of regents and to such rules as the\nboard of regents may adopt and promulgate from time to time with respect\nto such corporations.\n d. The television programs developed and presented by such\ncorporations shall consist of educational, instructional and cultural\nprograms.\n e. The appointment or election of any trustee of such corporation\nshall be subject to approval by the regents while under regents' charter\nand through the first five years of broadcast operations. The regents\nmay reinstitute requirements for trustee approval over a reasonable\nperiod on finding a corporation in violation of an applicable rule,\nregulation or law. After the expiration of rule requirements,\ncorporations shall include a list of current trustees in its annual\nreport.\n f. The regents may remove any trustee, officer or employee of such\ncorporation for misconduct, incapacity, wilful violation or neglect of\nduty under this chapter, or wilfully disobeying, or refusing to comply\nwith, any order or rule of the regents. The hearing in the proceeding\nfor the removal of any such person shall be had before the board of\nregents or a committee thereof or a hearing officer designated by the\nboard of regents and such trustee, officer or employee shall be given at\nleast ten days' notice of the time and place of such hearing.\n g. The use of programs for partisan or political purposes or to\ninfluence the enactment of legislation shall, in the discretion of the\nboard of regents, be basis for termination of the corporate charter.\n h. Each such corporation shall render a report to the board of regents\nnot later than October first of each year upon such matters as the\nregents may require, and shall furnish such other reports and\ninformation from time to time as the regents may require.\n i. Any corporation created under the provisions of this section may\nmake purchases of commodities and services through the office of general\nservices subject to such rules as may be established from time to time\npursuant to section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law;\nprovided that each such purchase shall have a cost of five hundred\ndollars or more and that said corporation shall accept sole\nresponsibility for any payment of such cost due the vendor.\n 4. Grants-in-aid to public television and radio corporations and\npublic radio stations. a. There shall be apportioned, as assistance for\napproved operating expenses of public television corporations governed\nby the provisions of this section, an amount not exceeding the product\nof the number of residents of the state as determined from the nineteen\nhundred eighty decennial federal census multiplied by: one dollar for\nthe period beginning July first, nineteen hundred eighty-five and ending\nJune thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-six; one dollar multiplied by\nfour-twelfths plus one dollar and twenty-five cents multiplied by\neight-twelfths for the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred\neighty-six and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-seven; and\none dollar and forty cents for the period beginning July first, nineteen\nhundred eighty-seven and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred\neighty-eight, and annually thereafter. Such amount shall be allocated to\neach such corporation in accordance with a formula and schedule of\npayments developed and approved by the commissioner and the director of\nthe division of the budget.\n b. The formula and schedule of payments developed pursuant to\nparagraph a hereof shall include provision for an amount not less than\ntwenty percent of the total state operating assistance for instructional\ntelevision services to be provided to local educational agencies by\npublic television corporations through agreements with local school\ndistricts, subject to the approval of the commissioner.\n c. There shall be annually apportioned funds for the payment of\napproved capital expenses of educational television corporations and\npublic radio stations in such amounts and in such manner as the\nlegislature shall provide.\n d. There shall be apportioned, as assistance for approved radio\nprogramming operating expenses, an amount not exceeding: eighty thousand\ndollars for the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred\neighty-five and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-six, and\neighty thousand dollars multiplied by four-twelfths plus one hundred\nthousand dollars multiplied by eight-twelfths for the period beginning\nJuly first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and ending June thirtieth,\nnineteen hundred eighty-seven, and one hundred ten thousand dollars for\nthe period beginning July first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven and\nending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, and annually\nthereafter to each public television and radio corporation, governed by\nthe provisions of this section, and to each public radio station, as\ndefined in paragraph f of this subdivision and paid in accordance with a\nformula and schedule of payments developed and approved by the\ncommissioner and the director of the division of the budget. Recipients\nof assistance shall render a fiscal report to the board of regents not\nlater than December first of each year upon such matters as the regents\nmay require and shall furnish annually such other fiscal reports as the\nregents may require.\n e. On or before November first in each year, the board of regents\nshall submit to the division of the budget a plan outlining a matching\ncapital grant program for approved capital expenses of public television\nand/or radio corporations and public radio stations to meet the\nreplacement costs of capital items including towers, antennas,\ntransmitters, videotape recorders, cameras, film chains, control room\nequipment, buildings and building renovations.\n f. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for purposes of this\nsubdivision the term "public radio station" shall mean a non-profit and\nnoncommercial radio station which meets the following requirements:\n (1) The station shall be licensed to:\n (i) an institution chartered by the board of regents; or\n (ii) an agency of a municipal corporation; or\n (iii) a corporation created in the state education department and\nwithin the university of the state of New York.\n (2) The station other than stations operated by corporations approved\nfor funding prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-five shall\nhave for a period of three consecutive years immediately prior to\napportionment of such money and all recipients shall continue to after\nreceipt of such money:\n (i) broadcast at least eighteen hours per day or the maximum hours of\noperation authorized by the federal communications commission, whichever\nis less, three hundred sixty-five days per year; and\n (ii) operate with a staff of at least five full-time members paid at\nleast the federal minimum wage, a budget that includes at least\nninety-five thousand dollars of non-federal income of which a reasonable\nportion is received from local business, foundations, or individual\ncontributors paid either directly to the radio station or broadcast\ncorporation or to a not-for-profit corporation for the benefit of such\nradio station and an effective radiated power equivalent to three\nthousand watts at five hundred feet above average terrain or the maximum\ntower height authorized by the federal communications commission,\nwhichever is less for FM radio stations or two hundred fifty watts for\nAM radio stations.\n g. At such time that assistance authorized by paragraph a of this\nsubdivision exceeds the sum appropriated in state fiscal year nineteen\nhundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one, there shall be apportioned\nas assistance for approved operating expenses of New York city-licensed\nWNYC-TV, for each three hundred sixty-five hours of public service\nprogramming broadcast by such station annually, an amount equal to one\npercent of that portion of public television assistance for approved\noperating expenses which represents the increment above the level\nappropriated in state fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen\nhundred ninety-one; provided, however, that the total apportionment to\nWNYC-TV shall not exceed ten percent of such incremental assistance over\nsuch nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one level.\nNotwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary, such\nfunding for WNYC-TV shall not diminish the amount of state aid received\nby the nine public television corporations pursuant to paragraph a of\nthis subdivision in state fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen\nhundred ninety-one. For the purposes of this subdivision, "public\nservice programming" shall be defined as non-commercial cultural,\ninstructional or educational programming. In order to qualify for\nassistance under this subdivision, the minimum hours of non-commercial\npublic service programming, shall be eight hours daily and shall include\nthree hours daily of prime time service, which is defined as service\nbetween the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Non-commercial public\nservice programming, other than prime time, shall be broadcast in blocks\nof not less than one hundred twenty minutes. All funds so apportioned\nshall be used for non-commercial public service television broadcast\nactivities. WNYC-TV shall render a report to the commissioner not later\nthan December first of each year such funds are appropriated upon the\nuse of such appropriation, and shall furnish such other reports and\ninformation relating to such funds as the commissioner may from time to\ntime require. Funds appropriated pursuant to this subdivision shall not\nbe used for partisan or political purposes or to influence the enactment\nof legislation.\n h. There shall be apportioned, at such time that any appropriation\nexceeds the sum appropriated in state fiscal year nineteen hundred\nninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one for approved capital expenses of\neducational television corporations and public radio stations, as\nprovided in paragraph c of this subdivision, an amount to New York\ncity-licensed WNYC-TV. Notwithstanding any provisions of this paragraph\nto the contrary, such funding shall not diminish the amount of state\naid, for capital purposes, that the nine public television corporations\nand fifteen public radio stations received in state fiscal year nineteen\nhundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one. WNYC-TV shall render a\nreport to the commissioner not later than December first of each year\nsuch funds are appropriated upon the use of funds apportioned pursuant\nto this paragraph, and shall furnish such other reports and information\nrelating to such funds as the commissioner may require.\n 5. Implementation. For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of\nthis section, the regents may make rules, or authorize the commissioner\nto make regulations, providing for the implementation of this section,\nincluding provision for annual audited reports of the financial records\nof such corporations as the regents or the commissioner may require.\n