Sen. Sullivan bill could instead replace PBS board

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, is considering amending his bill that would abolish the Arkansas Educational Television Commission and move Arkansas PBS to full control by the Department of Education.

Instead, Senate Bill 184 could be amended so it would replace the current commission with all new members.

Sullivan made those comments in an interview Wednesday (March 5), the day before the commission holds its quarterly meeting. Sullivan said he is “absolutely” committed to running the bill and likely will ask the Bureau of Legislative Research to draft a couple of amendments, depending on what happens in that meeting.

“I think the board either needs to be gone or reconstituted, bottom line,” he said.

Current board members would lose their positions and be replaced by Gov. Sarah Sanders. Sanders appointed Sullivan’s wife, Maria Sullivan, to the commission last year.

Sullivan said he was reconsidering what actions to take after Arkansas PBS Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger released a letter and a memo from Margaret Miller, a partner with the Washington, D.C.-based Gray Miller Persh law firm. Pledger declined to be interviewed for this article.

Miller wrote Feb. 27 that transferring authority from the commission to the department would jeopardize the station’s Federal Communications Commission license, which is held by the commission.

Applying for a new license would not be prohibitively expensive but would take a number of months, Sullivan said.

The bill passed the Senate, 23-8, on Feb. 17 with three not voting and one excused. It has been referred to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, which met March 5.

Sullivan in the interview expressed a number of frustrations with the commission. He said the members are untrained and don’t exercise effective oversight over AETN. An audit of the agency found numerous problems. He also said the board isn’t making enough services available to homeschooling and school choice families. Teacher in-service training isn’t available to homeschool teachers.

“It’s the Arkansas Educational Television Network, not the Arkansas Entertainment Television Network,” he said, referring to the AETN name that Arkansas PBS was previously called. “Our focus should be on education, and I don’t see that as necessarily the case.”

The commission is chaired by longtime member and Fayetteville-based attorney West Doss. The two were “hopefully” meeting March 5, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said PBS is needed for Arkansas to dig its way out of its low educational rankings nationally.

“This institution is fabulous, and when you look at their history, they’ve done a lot of good things,” he said.

The memo and letter from Miller, the D.C.-based lawyer, also expressed concerns that the transfer from the commission to the Department of Education would create First Amendment issues as well as greater liability for defamation in news and public affairs programming. State employees could respond to editorial decisions with lawsuits.

“It is doubtful whether a broadcasting enterprise could be carried on under these conditions,” Miller wrote.

Sullivan said those arguments were “smoke and mirrors.” He said Arkansas PBS already is part of the Department of Education.

“This looks like a letter from a lobbyist, not a contracted firm who is supposed to be helping the state with FCC regulations,” he said.

Senate Bill 184 would also eliminate the Arkansas State Library Board and transfer its duties to the Arkansas Department of Education. Sullivan has no plans to change that part of the bill.