A couple of weeks ago, I noted Gov. Pawlenty's proposal to zero out public broadcasting's $2.015 million general-fund appropriation as of July 1, and the DFL-dominated Senate's near-total disagreement. Now the House has weighed in, and no surprise, that DFL-controlled body largely agrees with the upper chamber.

Here's a brief recap: Pawlenty would cut $1.361 million from the state's public TV stations; $17,000 from Twin Cities regional cable; $387,000 from the AMPERS network of independent public radio stations; and $250,000 for Minnesota Public Radio equipment.

The House budget bill includes a $148,000 overall cut, or about 7 percent of the governor's whacking. Public TV would lose $103,000; regional cable $1,000; AMPERS, $24,000; and MPR, $20,000. Roughly 40 percent of the cuts would come in the current fiscal year, the first of the two-year biennium.

The House's targets are slightly more generous than the Senate's, which projects $161,000 in cuts during the biennium. Relative to the House, the Senate's cuts penalize AMPERS more ($6,000) than MPR ($1,000). Public TV would take a $5,000 bigger cut, and cable, $1,000.

The differences must be reconciled in the bill sent to the governor, who could, of course, veto it. Lawmakers are trying to close a $1 billion deficit that could swell by $2.7 billion depending on the outcome of a Supreme Court challenge to Pawlenty's 2009 unallotments.