N.Y. Education Law § 236: Public television and radio

§ 236. Public television and radio. 1. Short title. This section shall

be known and may be cited as the "Public Television and Radio Act of

nineteen hundred seventy-eight".

2. Legislative findings and declaration of intent. In the years since

New York state's educational television act was passed in nineteen

hundred fifty-four, public television in New York has made enormous

strides. Audiences which only a decade ago were calculated in the

thousands now number in the millions. Approximately seven million New

York residents now view public television every week. Public television,

which initially served only a handful of students, now brings nearly ten

thousand hours annually of the best of the state's and the nation's

educational programming to over one million two hundred thousand

students in three thousand schools throughout the state. These programs

are used by approximately fifty thousand teachers for direct classroom

instruction. Public television also provides the state's youngsters with

some twelve thousand hours annually of the finest children's programming

available including "Sesame Street", "Electric Company", "Zoom" and "Mr.

Rogers Neighborhood". In addition, public television provides a wealth

of specialized programming in the educational and cultural arts designed

for viewing by, among others, minority and ethnic populations, senior

citizens, the unemployed, consumers and citizens interested in the

performing arts. It is the sense of the legislature that public

television's contributions to the people of New York state have been

exceptional. Despite public broadcasting's great progress in New York

state in recent years, its full potential remains untapped. It is,

therefore, the intent of the legislature both to maintain and, expand

the role of public broadcasting in supplying educational, instructional

and cultural programs to New Yorkers, as well as to enhance the state's

role in its partnership with its citizens so that this valuable state

resource can be nurtured to its optimum potential.

3. Public television and radio corporations; creation and operation.

a. The board of regents may incorporate any group, institution or

association for the purpose of constructing, owning, operating or

maintaining a non-profit and noncommercial public television station or

public television and/or radio station for providing educational

television and radio programs. Any such corporation shall be subject to

all the provisions applicable to corporations created by the board of

regents and, in addition, shall be subject to the provisions of this

section.

b. The charter of any such corporation may be amended from time to

time, suspended, or revoked, upon the regents' own motion, after notice

and an opportunity to be heard, before the board of regents or a

committee thereof or a hearing officer designated by the board of

regents.

c. Each such corporation and all its operations and the powers and

duties of its trustees and officers shall be subject to the general

supervision and control of the board of regents and to such rules as the

board of regents may adopt and promulgate from time to time with respect

to such corporations.

d. The television programs developed and presented by such

corporations shall consist of educational, instructional and cultural

programs.

e. The appointment or election of any trustee of such corporation

shall be subject to approval by the regents while under regents' charter

and through the first five years of broadcast operations. The regents

may reinstitute requirements for trustee approval over a reasonable

period on finding a corporation in violation of an applicable rule,

regulation or law. After the expiration of rule requirements,

corporations shall include a list of current trustees in its annual

report.

f. The regents may remove any trustee, officer or employee of such

corporation for misconduct, incapacity, wilful violation or neglect of

duty under this chapter, or wilfully disobeying, or refusing to comply

with, any order or rule of the regents. The hearing in the proceeding

for the removal of any such person shall be had before the board of

regents or a committee thereof or a hearing officer designated by the

board of regents and such trustee, officer or employee shall be given at

least ten days' notice of the time and place of such hearing.

g. The use of programs for partisan or political purposes or to

influence the enactment of legislation shall, in the discretion of the

board of regents, be basis for termination of the corporate charter.

h. Each such corporation shall render a report to the board of regents

not later than October first of each year upon such matters as the

regents may require, and shall furnish such other reports and

information from time to time as the regents may require.

i. Any corporation created under the provisions of this section may

make purchases of commodities and services through the office of general

services subject to such rules as may be established from time to time

pursuant to section one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law;

provided that each such purchase shall have a cost of five hundred

dollars or more and that said corporation shall accept sole

responsibility for any payment of such cost due the vendor.

4. Grants-in-aid to public television and radio corporations and

public radio stations. a. There shall be apportioned, as assistance for

approved operating expenses of public television corporations governed

by the provisions of this section, an amount not exceeding the product

of the number of residents of the state as determined from the nineteen

hundred eighty decennial federal census multiplied by: one dollar for

the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred eighty-five and ending

June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-six; one dollar multiplied by

four-twelfths plus one dollar and twenty-five cents multiplied by

eight-twelfths for the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred

eighty-six and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-seven; and

one dollar and forty cents for the period beginning July first, nineteen

hundred eighty-seven and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred

eighty-eight, and annually thereafter. Such amount shall be allocated to

each such corporation in accordance with a formula and schedule of

payments developed and approved by the commissioner and the director of

the division of the budget.

b. The formula and schedule of payments developed pursuant to

paragraph a hereof shall include provision for an amount not less than

twenty percent of the total state operating assistance for instructional

television services to be provided to local educational agencies by

public television corporations through agreements with local school

districts, subject to the approval of the commissioner.

c. There shall be annually apportioned funds for the payment of

approved capital expenses of educational television corporations and

public radio stations in such amounts and in such manner as the

legislature shall provide.

d. There shall be apportioned, as assistance for approved radio

programming operating expenses, an amount not exceeding: eighty thousand

dollars for the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred

eighty-five and ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-six, and

eighty thousand dollars multiplied by four-twelfths plus one hundred

thousand dollars multiplied by eight-twelfths for the period beginning

July first, nineteen hundred eighty-six and ending June thirtieth,

nineteen hundred eighty-seven, and one hundred ten thousand dollars for

the period beginning July first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven and

ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, and annually

thereafter to each public television and radio corporation, governed by

the provisions of this section, and to each public radio station, as

defined in paragraph f of this subdivision and paid in accordance with a

formula and schedule of payments developed and approved by the

commissioner and the director of the division of the budget. Recipients

of assistance shall render a fiscal report to the board of regents not

later than December first of each year upon such matters as the regents

may require and shall furnish annually such other fiscal reports as the

regents may require.

e. On or before November first in each year, the board of regents

shall submit to the division of the budget a plan outlining a matching

capital grant program for approved capital expenses of public television

and/or radio corporations and public radio stations to meet the

replacement costs of capital items including towers, antennas,

transmitters, videotape recorders, cameras, film chains, control room

equipment, buildings and building renovations.

f. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, for purposes of this

subdivision the term "public radio station" shall mean a non-profit and

noncommercial radio station which meets the following requirements:

(1) The station shall be licensed to:

(i) an institution chartered by the board of regents; or

(ii) an agency of a municipal corporation; or

(iii) a corporation created in the state education department and

within the university of the state of New York.

(2) The station other than stations operated by corporations approved

for funding prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-five shall

have for a period of three consecutive years immediately prior to

apportionment of such money and all recipients shall continue to after

receipt of such money:

(i) broadcast at least eighteen hours per day or the maximum hours of

operation authorized by the federal communications commission, whichever

is less, three hundred sixty-five days per year; and

(ii) operate with a staff of at least five full-time members paid at

least the federal minimum wage, a budget that includes at least

ninety-five thousand dollars of non-federal income of which a reasonable

portion is received from local business, foundations, or individual

contributors paid either directly to the radio station or broadcast

corporation or to a not-for-profit corporation for the benefit of such

radio station and an effective radiated power equivalent to three

thousand watts at five hundred feet above average terrain or the maximum

tower height authorized by the federal communications commission,

whichever is less for FM radio stations or two hundred fifty watts for

AM radio stations.

g. At such time that assistance authorized by paragraph a of this

subdivision exceeds the sum appropriated in state fiscal year nineteen

hundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one, there shall be apportioned

as assistance for approved operating expenses of New York city-licensed

WNYC-TV, for each three hundred sixty-five hours of public service

programming broadcast by such station annually, an amount equal to one

percent of that portion of public television assistance for approved

operating expenses which represents the increment above the level

appropriated in state fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen

hundred ninety-one; provided, however, that the total apportionment to

WNYC-TV shall not exceed ten percent of such incremental assistance over

such nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one level.

Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary, such

funding for WNYC-TV shall not diminish the amount of state aid received

by the nine public television corporations pursuant to paragraph a of

this subdivision in state fiscal year nineteen hundred ninety--nineteen

hundred ninety-one. For the purposes of this subdivision, "public

service programming" shall be defined as non-commercial cultural,

instructional or educational programming. In order to qualify for

assistance under this subdivision, the minimum hours of non-commercial

public service programming, shall be eight hours daily and shall include

three hours daily of prime time service, which is defined as service

between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Non-commercial public

service programming, other than prime time, shall be broadcast in blocks

of not less than one hundred twenty minutes. All funds so apportioned

shall be used for non-commercial public service television broadcast

activities. WNYC-TV shall render a report to the commissioner not later

than December first of each year such funds are appropriated upon the

use of such appropriation, and shall furnish such other reports and

information relating to such funds as the commissioner may from time to

time require. Funds appropriated pursuant to this subdivision shall not

be used for partisan or political purposes or to influence the enactment

of legislation.

h. There shall be apportioned, at such time that any appropriation

exceeds the sum appropriated in state fiscal year nineteen hundred

ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one for approved capital expenses of

educational television corporations and public radio stations, as

provided in paragraph c of this subdivision, an amount to New York

city-licensed WNYC-TV. Notwithstanding any provisions of this paragraph

to the contrary, such funding shall not diminish the amount of state

aid, for capital purposes, that the nine public television corporations

and fifteen public radio stations received in state fiscal year nineteen

hundred ninety--nineteen hundred ninety-one. WNYC-TV shall render a

report to the commissioner not later than December first of each year

such funds are appropriated upon the use of funds apportioned pursuant

to this paragraph, and shall furnish such other reports and information

relating to such funds as the commissioner may require.

5. Implementation. For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of

this section, the regents may make rules, or authorize the commissioner

to make regulations, providing for the implementation of this section,

including provision for annual audited reports of the financial records

of such corporations as the regents or the commissioner may require.