Budget committee votes to give WisconsinEye, Wisconsin's version of C-SPAN, $10M contingent on matching fundraising
MADISON – Wisconsin lawmakers on the Legislature's budget-writing committee voted Thursday to provide $10 million in state tax dollars to the statewide network that provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of the state Legislature and state Supreme Court as long as it raises private donations in the same amount.
The matching funds would go toward operations of Wisconsin's version of C-SPAN known as WisconsinEye, which provides video footage of hearings and floor sessions in the state Capitol, public events hosted by the governor, lawmakers, or stakeholders, court proceedings, political rallies and other civic-related events.
The state funding and donations could sustain the network for decades, according to the organization's recent spending. In 2021, WisconsinEye had a budget of about $1.1 million, according to Jon Henkes, the network’s president. For the fiscal year that ended in September 2019, WisconsinEye spent about $1.4 million, about $87,000 more than it took in that year, according to a filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
The proposal, supported by Democrats and Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance, would create an endowment fund for WisconsinEye within the state Department of Administration. WisconsinEye officials must request funds from the endowment no later than 2025.
Funds would be released on a dollar-by-dollar basis, and WisconsinEye could no longer require a paid subscription to access recorded content of public meetings. WisconsinEye provides its live coverage for free, but subscriptions have been required to watch events that are more than 24 hours old. Access to all content costs $9.99 a month.
The WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network created a paid subscription model in 2021 after struggling financially during the coronavirus pandemic.
"I think they provide a valuable service to the people of Wisconsin, to allow them access from their homes to their government," said committee co-chairman Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam.
"They've had several different financial models and ways of trying to manage their finances over the years, and none of them seem to be working real well. We felt that this was an opportunity to create a public private partnership for the endowment to hopefully help them be more financially stable so they can provide that essential service that allows anyone throughout Wisconsin to access, online or on their TV, what's happening in their own state government."
Henkes, in a statement, said the organization is "extremely grateful."
“Since our first broadcast in 2007, we have worked to provide open, unfiltered access to state government for the citizens of Wisconsin," he said. "This endowment fund will allow WisconsinEye to have a solid foundation upon which we will greatly expand that mission.”
Henkes told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he expects potential donors to be motivated by the prospect of doubling their contribution with the matching grant from taxpayers.
"WisconsinEye is a small nonprofit swimming in a sea of large organizations with tremendous influence, resources and administrative staffing," he said. "WisconsinEye will have to continue raising funds to support annual operations while at the same time raising funds to build the endowment. So, it's an incredible opportunity wrapped in an incredible challenge."
He said reaching the $20 million mark of donations and public funds will secure the future of the network and expects to expand their services and replace outdated technology.
On the air since 2007, the privately funded nonprofit network also features news programs and interviews with nearly all candidates for the state Legislature at election time. It’s available on cable TV and at wiseye.org.
In 2020, WisconsinEye furloughed some of its employees and took other cost-cutting measures as donations dried up during the pandemic. The network was able to stay afloat because of the stimulus package passed by Congress known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES.
CARES created the Paycheck Protection Program, which WisconsinEye used to receive a $112,000 forgivable loan. Separately, CARES gave Gov. Tony Evers control of nearly $2 billion in aid, and he used that help to provide WisconsinEye with $100,000.
During past debates about WisconsinEye’s funding, some lawmakers have raised concerns about Henkes’ salary. He was paid about $283,000 for the fiscal year that ended in September 2019, but he said in 2021 his pay has been cut since then.
Initially, WisconsinEye was to be funded with a mix of donations and fees on cable subscribers, but the cable money never came close to what WisconsinEye sought. For years it got by with millions of dollars in donations and loans from Diane Hendricks, the Beloit billionaire who is a philanthropist and megadonor to Republican causes.
Fundraising for the organization is difficult because it does not have the natural constituency of a college that can hit up alumni, Henkes said in 2021.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lawmakers back $10 million for WisconsinEye, Wisconsin's C-SPAN
