Vermont Access Network asks Legislature for $1.89 million to shore up community TV and radio

Vermont Access Network (VAN) on Tuesday told the House Appropriations Committee it is seeking $1.89 million in FY2027 base funding to sustain community television and a newly included group of nine nonprofit community radio stations.

Paul Snyder, executive director of Northwest Access TV and vice chair of VAN, said the coalition is asking the legislature to include $1,890,000 in the secretary of state’s FY2027 general fund budget to help “bridge the gap of declining revenue from cable subscriptions, cost of living increases in expenses, and additional operational support for Vermont community radio stations.”

The request follows a governor’s recommendation that would hold funding level at $1.35 million—the same amount appropriated in FY2026—leaving a roughly $540,000 shortfall compared with VAN’s ask. Snyder said community radio’s portion of the request is $90,000, an agreed-upon percentage of any total appropriation: “That number would fluctuate based on the funding we receive,” he said.

Why it matters: VAN’s testimony described community media as a distributed public-information and civic-engagement system that streams local government meetings, offers emergency messaging and mutual-aid coordination, trains volunteers in media production, and archives local programming. The presenters told the committee that community media reaches broad audiences across Vermont, pointing to station-level examples of volunteer engagement and viewership to illustrate local impact.

Lou Mulvaney Stanek, director of Central Vermont Community Radio (WGDR/WGDH), emphasized the emergency role of local radio stations and cited recent flooding in 2023 and 2024 as a concrete example of on-the-ground service: the stations carried real-time information about potable water, shelters and FEMA applications and provided ongoing community support in the weeks that followed.

Committee questions focused on the budget mechanics and evidence behind VAN’s figures. Representative Marty Delta Smolinden and others asked how the $1.35 million recommended in the governor’s budget would be split between television and radio; Snyder explained the radio share is a fixed percentage of available funds. Representative Tom Steven pressed presenters for historical context on the decline in cable-subscriber funding; Snyder and Stanek reported local quarter-to-quarter reductions they said are typically around 7–8 percent and told members that streaming revenues do not replace cable-access payments.

The committee chair requested detailed financial documentation to substantiate the $1.89 million ask. Snyder agreed to provide line-item spreadsheets and per‑AMO (access management organization) breakdowns showing lost revenue and the cost drivers behind the request: “It’s going to break it down, based on every AMO that’s 24 of us that are in Vermont,” he said.

No formal action was taken at the hearing. Committee members thanked the presenters and noted staff in the secretary of state’s office would serve as the committee’s liaison for follow-up questions. The committee adjourned the session after scheduling additional agency budget hearings for the next day.

Sources and attributions in this article are drawn from testimony and exchanges with Paul Snyder (executive director, Northwest Access TV; vice chair, Vermont Access Network) and Lou Mulvaney Stanek (director, Central Vermont Community Radio) before the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 10, 2026.