With Budget Deadline Looming, Sen. Murray Visits Seattle Radio Station, Research Center--Just Two of Many Local Programs That Would Be Hit Hard By President Trump's Proposed Budget Cuts

Press Release

Today, just two weeks from a deadline to reach a budget deal to avert a federal government shutdown, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) visited local radio station KEXP and nationally-recognized research center UW Medicine to speak out against President Trump's harmful budget proposal released last month. First, Senator Murray visited KEXP's new broadcast and education facility to hear from station representatives from not only KEXP but also KUOW, KNKX, and KCTS about the importance of federal funding and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Senator Murray then went to UW Medicine, the largest recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in Washington state, and the top public university recipient in the country. She toured an immunology lab, then heard from a patient, researcher, and doctor about the potential impacts to critical, life-saving research being done at UW Medicine if President Trump's budget were to be put in place.

"Both of these institutions are such important parts of the Puget Sound region, and are facing devastating cuts," said Senator Murray. "I am very concerned about proposed cuts to the arts and public broadcasting, and to the National Institutes of Health which funds critical, life-saving research and is a key job creator in our region. Families in Washington state and across the country want a budget that invests in them, their communities, and their futures -- and I will be fighting back against this budget as hard as I can."

Senator Murray emphasized how critical it is to make everyone's voice heard to fight back against President Trump's harmful proposed budget, which would eliminate funding for CPB, a proposed $450 million cut, and would likely result in stations losing access to educational content and could lead to the eventual closure of local radio and television broadcasters across the country. In Fiscal Year 2016, KEXP received a $606,941 grant from CPB, and Washington state as a whole received over $7.7 million from CPB. The proposed budget also included a nearly 20 percent cut to the NIH, which could mean the loss of millions of dollars in research funding to the area.

If a budget deal isn't reached by when the government is set to run out of funding on April 28th, the government will shut down, causing departments and programs to freeze nationwide.

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