Across the United States, essential public services are facing unprecedented funding crises, threatening the very fabric of daily life for millions. As Michigan’s public transit system teeters on the brink due to record-low state support, rural and tribal public radio stations in Arizona brace for survival after deep federal funding cuts. These parallel stories—unfolding in different corners of the country—highlight a growing challenge: how communities dependent on government-backed infrastructure and information networks are being forced to adapt, or risk losing lifelines that many take for granted.
In Michigan, the clock is ticking. With the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget deadline looming on October 1, 2025, public transit operators are sounding a stark alarm. According to Bridge Michigan, state funding for local transportation has dropped to an all-time low. The governor’s proposed budget allocates just $226 million for Local Bus Operating (LBO), representing a nearly 10% reduction from the previous year. For a system that provides over 47 million rides annually across all 83 counties, the consequences are daunting.
“These are essential services — not luxuries — that support the basic needs of millions of Michiganders from all walks of life,” wrote John Dulmes and Brad Funkhouser, executive directors of a major Michigan transit system and the statewide association for transit providers, in a joint statement published by Bridge Michigan. They warn that without significant reinvestment, local transportation systems will be forced to slash routes, reduce service hours, and eliminate jobs. The ripple effects will be felt by workers, veterans, seniors, and students—many of whom rely on public transit as their sole means of reaching jobs, medical appointments, and school programs.
The demographic trends make these cuts even more painful. Michigan’s senior population, a major user of public transportation, is booming. At the same time, younger generations are driving less, deterred by the ever-rising costs of car ownership. For most households, transportation expenses rank second only to housing. “Investing in improved transportation options is a key solution to the human, economic and environmental challenges faced by Michiganders,” Dulmes and Funkhouser argue, urging lawmakers to restore and even enhance funding for transit, rail, ferry, pedestrian, and bicycling infrastructure.
Despite these warnings, the state’s proposed budget does not reflect the urgency. Dulmes and Funkhouser stress that “current state funding is already insufficient to maintain Michigan’s local bus systems,” and the proposed reductions will only deepen the crisis. Without intervention, vulnerable populations—including veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and students—will lose access to the services they depend on. Businesses, too, stand to lose both customers and employees as mobility options shrink.
Public sentiment, however, appears firmly on the side of transit. In 2024, 90% of local transit ballot measures passed, a clear signal that Michiganders value reliable, accessible transportation. “We cannot afford another missed opportunity to invest in a sustainable, 21st-century public transportation system,” Dulmes and Funkhouser emphasized. They call on citizens to contact their lawmakers and demand that the final budget supports these vital investments.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, a different but equally urgent funding crisis is unfolding. Rural and tribal public radio stations—often the only sources of local news, emergency alerts, and cultural programming—are reeling after Congress, acting on President Trump’s directive, slashed federal support to public media this summer. According to The Arizona Republic, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a critical funding and infrastructure source for nearly 60 years, will end most of its operations by the end of September 2025. The impact will be nationwide: NPR’s president has warned that as many as 80 stations could close, leaving countless communities without trusted information sources.
For stations like KUYI-FM, which serves the Hopi Reservation and surrounding areas, the stakes are existential. “It’s a living part of our community,” said Samantha Honani Molina, KUYI’s general manager, in an interview with The Arizona Republic. The station, which marked 25 years on the air this year, is facing a loss of nearly half its budget. The cuts are especially acute for rural outlets, which receive a much higher percentage of their funding from the federal government than their urban counterparts—sometimes more than 60% of their total budgets.
These stations are not just broadcasters; they are cultural hubs and emergency lifelines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, KUYI-FM provided daily updates that were vital for public health, especially in areas with limited internet or cell service. The station’s signal reaches all 12 villages on the reservation, offering programming in Hopi, Tewa, and English. “Not only locally, but off-reservation, Hopi community members can turn on the radio station and hear and be reflected on a large platform,” Honani Molina explained.
To adapt, stations are turning to volunteers and ramping up fundraising efforts. In Yuma, KAWC general manager Dave Riek has had to eliminate 11 part-time positions, many of them held by students. “Right now, I'm spending all of my time trying to build a network of volunteers to fill in the spaces of the positions we had to eliminate because we lost the CPB funding,” Riek told The Arizona Republic. The grant from the CPB had funded the bulk of KAWC’s local programming, from news shows to community-driven discussions and even a youth-oriented show called "The Hot Spot."
But volunteers and donations can only go so far. Shelly Watkins, who has been with KNAU in Flagstaff for 18 years, said, “It is just, ‘I don't know what I would do without you,’” echoing the sentiment of listeners who have stepped up to donate. Still, she estimates the station will need to grow its donor base by about 25% to fill the funding gap. Maintaining newsroom staff and local programming is becoming a Herculean task. Loris Taylor, president of Native Public Media, observed, “We're expecting them to do Herculean efforts, which may not be possible. But we have such huge expectations that it's almost unfair.”
The political debate over public media funding is sharply divided. President Trump, in an executive order signed in May 2025, called for “ending taxpayer subsidization of biased media,” questioning the necessity and independence of government-funded news outlets. While some see this as a move toward fiscal responsibility and media neutrality, others argue that the cuts disproportionately harm rural and tribal communities, where alternatives are scarce and commercial media often does not reach.
Back in Michigan, the debate over public transit funding is similarly fraught. Lawmakers must balance priorities like education, roads, and health care, but transit advocates insist that mobility is foundational to economic growth and quality of life. “Michigan can and must do better,” Dulmes and Funkhouser concluded in their call to action. “We can be more competitive, more livable, more forward looking and serve our communities better by investing in a full range of public transportation that serves everyone in our state, regardless of age, disability, region or income.”
As the budget deadlines approach and communities rally to save their essential services, one thing is clear: the fight for public infrastructure—whether buses or broadcast towers—is about more than numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about the connections, opportunities, and safety nets that make American life possible in places large and small.
