Vermont Access Network asks Senate Government Operations Committee for $1.35 million in FY26 to shore up community media

Lauren Glendimidian, public policy director at the Center for Media and Democracy, told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Friday, Jan. 24, that Vermont Access Network is asking the legislature to include $1,350,000 in the secretary of state's budget for fiscal year 2026 to stabilize community media centers across Vermont.

The request builds on a $1,000,000 base appropriation the network received last year and is part of a three-year plan with the secretary of state to reach $2,000,000 in FY28, Glendimidian said. She told the committee the ask responds to a steady decline in cable-television revenue that historically funds PEG (public, educational and government) access centers.

Glendimidian said the statewide network of 24 community media centers produces approximately 18,000 hours of programming per year, employs about 150 Vermonters in specialized roles, and last year had about 1.3 million collective online views. She described the centers as a resource for municipalities—especially during the COVID pandemic when they helped move public meetings online—and said centers also preserve local video archives and run youth programs such as media camps.

Committee members pressed several practical questions and voiced broad support for continued funding. Committee discussion touched on storage and archival preservation: Glendimidian and members cited ongoing work with UVM and Middlebury College to preserve archives and noted that some centers are scraping their YouTube-hosted recordings onto locally controlled servers to retain custody of records. Committee members also discussed how the decline in cable subscriptions is shifting revenue sources toward municipal contributions, grants, philanthropy and fees for service.

Glendimidian described two policy paths the network considered for longer-term revenue replacement: a franchise/attachment fee assessed at the infrastructure level or a tax on streaming services. She said the network prefers assessing fees at the infrastructure (attachment) level because the companies that own and maintain public rights-of-way are the entities making direct use of that infrastructure, though she acknowledged that charging streaming services is often more politically feasible.

The committee did not take a formal vote during the presentation. Staff and members asked to continue working with the secretary of state's office and with CCTV directors and archivists to refine needs for server capacity, preservation plans and any statutory changes that would alter revenue streams.

Why it matters: community media centers provide local coverage of municipal meetings, candidate forums, sports and cultural programming. Committee members noted the centers can increase transparency and public engagement by making meetings and local events viewable and archivable.

Glendimidian and other witnesses offered to follow up with the committee on archival plans and capital needs for servers and storage; a committee member asked for contact information for CCTV's director of archives to coordinate further technical details.