For nearly 60 years, WQLN has been a vital local nonprofit, a partner in public safety, and an educational resource for our community. Unfortunately, we are now facing a period of great uncertainty for our local station.

Today, Congress passed H.R.4, the Rescissions Act of 2025, voting to claw back federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that was previously approved for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, eliminating essential funding that WQLN and hundreds of other local public media stations across the country depend on for operations.

While we deeply appreciate the thousands of loyal WQLN members and financial supporters, this funding accounts for 40% of our annual budget. It is irreplaceable and presents serious challenges for stations like ours. Losing this CPB support means we'll have to make some very tough decisions in the coming months that will affect the level of service we can provide.

Although this 40% funding cut will necessitate some difficult choices, please be assured that we are exploring all options to maintain our operations and continue serving you — the members, viewers, listeners, supporters, students, and teachers who rely on WQLN. Our team is working diligently to find creative solutions that enable many of our services to continue reaching those who need them most, including community connections, quality programming, public safety, and educational outreach.

 There are not enough words to express our gratitude to you. Please know how much the WQLN team values your unwavering support during this difficult time. You stepped up, contacting your representatives to ask them to preserve this funding — which has received bipartisan support since 1967 — but ultimately our collective efforts fell short by just a few votes.

This outcome is painful, but your steadfast support of our mission is real — and that means everything to us. Moving forward, your dedication to WQLN will be key to our survival, stability, and success.

The decisions ahead will be tough, but our mission and the people we serve will remain at the very heart of everything we do.

Thank you for standing with us.

Cindy Spizarny | President & CEO, WQLN