Local News Funding Act of 2025

Statement of Introduction Local News Funding Act of 2025 July 3, 2025 Today, alongside Councilmember Nadeau, I am introducing the Local News Funding Act of 2025, legislation that addresses the challenges facing local journalism in the District. This bill represents a re-introduction of legislation from the previous Council period with no changes. The Washington Post's paid average daily circulation has declined to 97,000 readers, down from 250,000 five years ago. This Sunday marked the end of the Post's dedicated Metro section for local readers, as the paper merged its Metro, Sports, and Style sections. This reduction reflects the broader challenges facing local journalism. The Local News Funding Act creates a system where residents decide which news outlets receive public grants through "news coupons." Each registered voter receives five news coupons through a secure online system that can be allocated to any news outlet registered with a new Community Journalism Board. Each coupon represents a fraction of the total grant funding available. If more residents allocate coupons to a particular outlet, that outlet receives a larger share of the funding. To participate, news outlets must register with the Board and meet basic requirements: reporting news as their primary activity, making local news available for free to District residents, clearly distinguishing news from advertising, and disclosing their ownership structure. Grant recipients could include local sections of newspapers, community-focused outlets, radio stations, podcasters, independent journalists, and digital platforms. The bill allocates 0.1% of the District's general fund budget, approximately $11.6 million based on FY25 figures, for this program. The legislation also establishes a Community Journalism Board to administer the program and provide development grants for technical support and training. Local journalism plays an important role in keeping communities informed about local government, schools, and issues that affect residents' daily lives. This legislation allows residents to support the local news sources they find valuable while helping sustain local journalism. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this approach to supporting local news in the District.

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1 2 ___________________________________ 3 Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau 4 5 6 7 8 A BILL 9 10 11
12 13 14 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 15 16
17 18 To authorize and provide for the issuance of grants to local news outlets through the creation of a 19 system of coupons that may be allocated by registered voters to the news outlets of their 20 choice, to establish registration and eligibility requirements for news outlets to participate 21 in the grant program, to require each news outlet to hold grant funds in a separate account 22 pending their expenditure, to create a statutory lien on the separate account in favor of the 23 District to secure the news outlet’s obligation to comply with this act, to establish the 24 Community Journalism Board as an independent executive branch agency to administer 25 the provisions of this act, to authorize (subject to appropriations) the dedication of 0.1% of 26 the District’s General Fund budget to fund the news coupon grant program, and to further 27 authorize the Board to issue journalism development grants to support training and 28 technical assistance to news outlets and individuals; and to make conforming changes. 29 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 30 act may be cited as the “Local News Funding Act of 2025”. 31 TITLE I. NEWS OUTLET GRANT PROGRAM. 32 Sec. 101. Definitions. 33 For purposes of this title, the term: 34 (1) “Board” means the Community Journalism Board established by section 114 35 of this title. 36 (2) “District employee” means:
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George

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37 (A) Any individual paid by the District government, or an instrumentality 38 of the District, from appropriated funds for his or her services or holding office in the District, 39 other than employees of the District of Columbia courts; or 40 (B) A member of a board or commission who was nominated for a 41 position pursuant to section 2(e) or (f) of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 42 (D.C. Law 2-142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01(e), (f)) or who was appointed by the Council. 43 (3) “Donation” means a private gift of money or property to a news outlet and 44 excludes the allocation or redemption of a news coupon. 45 (4) “Entity” means a person within the meaning of section 2 of the General 46 Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, effective September 23, 1975 (D.C. Law 1-17; D.C. Official 47 Code § 1-301.45), other than an individual. 48 (5) “Governing person” means, with respect to an entity: 49 (A) A person who acts as the chief executive officer of the entity; 50 (B) A person who is an officer or member of the entity’s governing board; 51 or 52 (C) Any other person that may directly or indirectly exercise control of the 53 entity pursuant to its organizational documents, a contract, an arrangement, or an understanding 54 or relationship; provided, that the term shall not include a person with less than 10 percent of the 55 entity’s voting power. 56 (6) “Humanities council” means HumanitiesDC, or any successor humanities 57 council for the District that is designated as such in accordance with section 7 of the National 58 Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, approved September 29, 1965 (79 Stat. 850; 59 20 U.S. Code § 956).
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60 (7) “Local news” means original reporting on events, occurrences, and people for 61 the purpose of informing an audience about matters of interest to or significance for communities 62 within the District; provided, that the term shall not include reporting on professional sports or 63 marketing of a business owned by or affiliated with the publisher. 64 (8) “News coupon” means an instrument representing a unit fraction (where the 65 fraction’s denominator equals the total number of news coupons being redeemed at one time) of 66 the aggregate value of all redemption grants made at such time pursuant to section 111 of this 67 title. 68 (9) “News outlet” means a person residing or incorporated in the District that 69 publishes local news. 70 (10) “Owner” means a person who, with respect to an entity: 71 (A) Legally or beneficially owns at least 10 percent of the entity; or 72 (B) Has a right to receive at least 10 percent of the entity’s net income. 73 (11) “Patron” means the person in whose name a news coupon is issued. 74 (12) “Program account” means a separate deposit account that is subject to the 75 jurisdiction of the District and that is owned exclusively by a news outlet for the purpose of 76 holding program funds until their expenditure. 77 (13) “Program funds” means money deposited into a program account as a 78 redemption grant, together with all interest and investment proceeds attributable to such money. 79 (14) “Quarter” means a period of three calendar months ending on the last day of 80 March, June, September, or December. 81 (15) “Record date” means, with respect to any quarter, the 15th day of the last 82 calendar month in the quarter.
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83 (16) “Redemption date” means, with respect to any quarter, the last business day 84 of the quarter. 85 (17) “Redemption grant” means a grant from the District to a news outlet to 86 redeem a news coupon pursuant to section 111 of this title. 87 (18) “Registered voter” means a person who is registered to vote in local elections 88 pursuant to section 7 of the District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, approved August 12, 89 1955 (69 Stat. 699; D.C. Official Code § 1.1001.07). 90 (19) “Television” means video programming as defined in section 103 of the 91 Cable Television Communications Act of 1981, effective October 9, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-193; 92 D.C. Official Code § 34-1251.03); provided, that the term shall exclude video programming: 93 (A) On a noncommercial channel or station; or 94 (B) That is produced for distribution solely via the internet. 95 Sec. 102. Establishment of Local News Grant Program; eligibility criteria. 96 (a) There is established a Local News Grant Program, to be administered by the Board, to 97 grant money to news outlets that report and publish local news. The recipient and amount of each 98 grant shall be determined through a system of “news coupons” that allow registered voters to 99 allocate grants to the registered news outlets of their choice, as more particularly described in 100 this title. 101 (b) To be eligible to receive redemption grants and funding under this title, a news outlet 102 shall: 103 (1) Register with the Board as provided in section 103; 104 (2) Agree to meet requirements relating to news reporting and disclosure, as set 105 forth in section 104, and the use of program funds, as set forth in section 105;
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106 (3) Meet the participation requirement set forth in section 106; and 107 (4) Not be otherwise disqualified by the Board. 108 Sec. 103. Registration. 109 (a) A news outlet shall register with the Board before any news coupons may be allocated 110 to it. A news outlet shall maintain its registration as a condition of receiving funding through 111 redemption grants pursuant to this title. 112 (b) To register or renew its registration, a news outlet shall submit to the Board an 113 application setting forth the following information: 114 (1) Its legal name and principal office in the District; 115 (2) A statement indicating whether the news outlet is a for-profit entity, a non- 116 profit entity, or a sole proprietorship; 117 (3) Its owners, if applicable; provided, that if a news outlet has more than three 118 owners, the news outlet shall submit an organizational chart depicting the complete corporate 119 ownership structure of the entities; 120 (4) Its governing persons, unless the news outlet is an individual; 121 (5) The medium or media in which the news outlet publishes local news; 122 (6) A brief statement indicating whether the news outlet has adopted written 123 standards regarding editorial independence, correcting errors in reporting, and labeling 124 commentary and, if so, whether such standards are publicly available; and 125 (7) Other information and agreements that the Board may require of registrants. 126 (c) In addition, a news outlet registering for the first time shall: 127 (1) Indicate the name of the bank or other depository institution that is expected to 128 hold the program account required by section 112;
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129 (2) Acknowledge that: 130 (A) The news outlet shall hold redemption grants as program funds in the 131 program account until their expenditure, that the District shall hold a security interest in the 132 program account, and that the District may seize control of the program account as provided in 133 section 112 and a deposit account control agreement; and 134 (B) Redemption grants may result in taxable income to the news outlet; 135 and 136 (d) The form of application shall be determined by the Board. 137 (e) Registration shall be complete when the Board issues a notice to the news outlet that 138 its application meets all applicable requirements; provided, that no application or registration fee 139 shall be charged by the Board. 140 (f)(1) A news outlet shall renew its registration each year in accordance with procedures 141 that may be adopted by the Board. An application for renewal shall include up-to-date 142 information required under subsection (b) of this section and a statement of transactions 143 involving the program account. 144 (2) The Board may provisionally renew the registration of a news outlet that has 145 applied for renewal before the end of its registration period; provided, that if the renewal 146 application discloses violations of this title, the Board may order correction of the violations or 147 an appropriate sanction pursuant to section 113. 148 Sec. 104. News reporting. 149 (a) A registered news outlet shall: 150 (1) Engage in reporting on news events as its primary activity; 151 (2) Make its local news content accessible to District residents for free;
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152 (3) Clearly distinguish advertising (including sponsored content) from local news 153 content, if the news outlet receives revenue from advertising; and 154 (4) Notify the Board within 7 days of any change to the list of owners or 155 governing persons of the news outlet. 156 (b) A news outlet may make its local news content accessible to District residents for free 157 by: 158 (1) Charging no fee for publications containing local news paid for with program 159 funds, or 160 (2) Publishing local news on the internet without a paywall or granting District 161 residents no-cost credentials to access local news that is otherwise behind a paywall; provided, 162 that a news outlet may charge District residents to access content other than local news paid for 163 with program funds. 164 (c) Subject to the requirements of this title, an eligible news outlet may: 165 (1) Report local news in a publication that also contains other content; 166 (2) Request a patron to allocate a news coupon and explain how to allocate a news 167 coupon to a news outlet; 168 (3) Solicit or accept a subscription or fee for the news outlet’s publications; 169 (4) Solicit or accept a donation, and give a gift in recognition of a donation; and 170 (5) Participate in any other lawful transaction that does not involve news coupons. 171 Sec. 105. Program funds. 172 (a) A news outlet receiving program funds shall: 173 (1) Use program funds to pay, or reimburse the news outlet for, the reasonable 174 costs of reporting and publishing local news in any medium except television;
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175 (2) Establish and maintain a program account and shall deposit and keep all 176 program funds in the program account until their expenditure; 177 (3) Not commingle program funds with money or property from any other source; 178 (4) Maintain accurate records accounting for the receipt and expenditure of all 179 program funds, together with any interest earned or investment proceeds, in sufficient detail to 180 demonstrate compliance with this section and any rules issued by the Board to implement this 181 section; and 182 (5) Notify the Board within 2 business days if the program account is closed, a 183 new program account is established, or the name of the depository institution holding the 184 program account is changed. 185 (b) Prior to the payment of any redemption grant, and at all times during which any 186 program funds remain in a program account, there shall be in effect a deposit account control 187 agreement described in section 112. 188 Sec. 106. Participation requirement. 189 (a) A registered news outlet meets the participation requirement for any quarter if the 190 news outlet is the valid recipient of at least 250 news coupons in the quarter. 191 (b) The Board shall notify a news outlet when it meets the participation requirement for a 192 quarter or when, having met the participation requirement in the immediately preceding quarter, 193 it has not yet met the participation requirement for a quarter. 194 Sec. 107. Secure online system. 195 (a) The Board shall establish and maintain a secure online system to effectuate and record 196 the issuance, allocation, and redemption of news coupons. 197 (b) The secure online system shall associate with each news coupon:
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198 (1) The unique identification number of the news coupon; 199 (2) The patron of the news coupon or an identification number assigned to the 200 patron; 201 (3) The calendar year for which the news coupon is issued; and 202 (4) The recipient of the news coupon in each quarter. 203 (c) The Board shall make available to users of the secure online system information 204 regarding each registered news outlet, including: 205 (1) A summary statement, not exceeding 250 words, written about and by the 206 news outlet; 207 (2) The medium or media in which the news outlet publishes local news; 208 (3) A statement indicating whether the news outlet is a for-profit entity, a 209 nonprofit entity, or a sole proprietorship; 210 (4) A list of the owners and governing persons of the news outlet, to the extent 211 applicable; and 212 (5) A summary of financial activity for the news outlet’s program account in the 213 previous two years, if applicable. 214 (d) The Board shall provide effective access to the secure online system to patrons and 215 news outlets, regardless of disability or native language. 216 (e) A copy of data maintained in the secure online system shall be subject to public 217 disclosure as provided in District law. 218 Sec. 108. Issuance of news coupons.
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219 (a) By the first business day of each calendar year, the Board shall issue 5 news coupons 220 in the name of each person who was a registered voter as of the preceding December 1st, except 221 as provided in subsection (d) of this section. 222 (b) The Board shall promptly issue 5 news coupons in the name of each person who 223 becomes a newly registered voter in the District. 224 (c) The Board shall cancel any news coupons that have been issued in the name of any 225 person who ceases to be a registered voter in the District; provided, that a news coupon shall not 226 be canceled if it has been redeemed or irrevocably allocated. 227 (d)(1) The Board shall issue news coupons in the name of a registered voter whose 228 mailed ballot was returned as undeliverable in the most recent general election only upon receipt 229 of a certificate described in this subsection. 230 (2) The certificate shall contain the person’s oath or solemn affirmation that: 231 (A) The person resides in the District and no other place; and 232 (B) The person’s current mailing address appears correctly in the District’s 233 voter registration records, or the person has provided a corrected mailing address for inclusion in 234 the voter registration records. 235 (3) The certificate may be executed and delivered electronically through the 236 secure online system or by any other method accepted by the Board. 237 (4) Upon the person’s delivery of the certificate, the Board shall in subsequent 238 years issue news coupons in the name of the person pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, 239 unless the person’s mailed ballot is returned as undeliverable in a subsequent general election. 240 (e) Upon issuance, a news voucher shall not be negotiated or otherwise transferred to any 241 person, except as provided in section 109.
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242 Sec. 109. Allocation of news coupons. 243 (a) A news coupon may be allocated as provided in this section; provided, that an 244 allocation inconsistent with this section shall be deemed void. 245 (b) A news coupon may be allocated only by its patron and only to a registered news 246 outlet. A news coupon shall not be allocated by a proxy, attorney-in-fact, or agent acting for the 247 patron, except as provided in subsection (c)(2) of this section. 248 (c)(1) A news coupon shall be allocated through the secure online system. 249 (2) The Board shall permit a patron to provide instructions to the Board, in 250 writing or in person, regarding the allocation of news coupons that have been issued in the 251 patron’s name. The Board shall promptly give effect to such instructions to the fullest extent 252 practicable. 253 (d) A patron may allocate to the same news outlet any whole number of news coupons 254 that have been issued in the patron’s name. A patron may elect to continue an allocation into 255 subsequent quarters or to revoke an allocation at the end of a quarter. 256 (e) The allocation of a news coupon shall be irrevocable with respect to a quarter that has 257 begun, but a news coupon may be reallocated with respect to any upcoming quarter in the 258 calendar year for which the news coupon is issued. 259 Sec. 110. Prohibited use of news coupons. 260 (a) No person shall: 261 (1) Buy, sell, or barter a news coupon or a license to allocate a news coupon, or 262 offer to do so; or 263 (2) Give or receive cash or anything of value in connection with the allocation of 264 a news coupon.
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265 (b) A District employee may allocate a news coupon; provided, that a District employee 266 shall not: 267 (1) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of promoting or 268 discouraging the allocation of news coupons to a particular news outlet; 269 (2) Direct, or knowingly permit another person to direct, a subordinate to allocate 270 or not allocate news coupons to a particular news outlet; or 271 (3) Be an owner or governing person of a registered news outlet, or be a registered 272 news outlet in a personal capacity. 273 Sec. 111. Redemption of news coupons. 274 (a) As provided in this section, the Board shall on a quarterly basis redeem all news 275 coupons that were allocated by the record date to any eligible news outlet. 276 (b) By 2 business days after the record date, the Board shall publish and send to each 277 registered news outlet a redemption notice that sets forth, for the quarter: 278 (1) The number of news coupons that were allocated to all registered news 279 outlets; 280 (2) The number of news coupons that were allocated to each eligible news outlet; 281 (3) The number of news coupons that were allocated to news outlets that were 282 disqualified or not eligible; 283 (4) The recipient and amount in dollars of each redemption grant, and the value of 284 the news coupons that were redeemed, calculated in accordance with subsection (c); and 285 (5) The redemption date. 286 (c)(1) On the redemption date, the Board shall cause to be delivered to each eligible news 287 outlet a redemption grant in an amount calculated as (A) one-quarter of the annual appropriation
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288 for redemption grants in the fiscal year of the quarter, multiplied by (B) the number of news 289 coupons that were allocated by the record date to the news outlet, divided by (C) the number of 290 news coupons that were allocated by the record date to all eligible news outlets. 291 (2) For the purposes of the calculation set forth in this subsection: 292 (A) News coupons shall be disregarded if they were allocated to a news 293 outlet that is disqualified or ineligible, including for failure to meet the participation requirement 294 for the quarter; and 295 (B) The calculation shall be based on the figures appearing in the 296 redemption notice. The Board may issue a revised redemption notice to correct an error or if a 297 protest motion is granted in accordance with subsection (d). If a revised redemption notice is 298 issued, all earlier redemption notices for the quarter shall be revoked. 299 (d)(1) The redemption notice may be protested by any eligible news outlet that is 300 aggrieved by reason other than disqualification. Any protest shall be initiated within 3 business 301 days of publication of the redemption notice by filing a motion with the Board. The motion shall 302 set forth the basis for the protest and the additional amount that is claimed by the news outlet. 303 The Board shall cause a copy of the motion to be delivered to each eligible news outlet. 304 (2) Within 48 hours of the filing of the motion, any eligible news outlet may file a 305 response to the motion. 306 (3) The Board may hold a hearing on any or all issues necessary to decide a 307 motion. 308 (4) The Board shall decide the motion no later than 2 calendar days before the last 309 business day of the quarter. The Board may summarily deny the motion at any time after its
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310 filing, but the Board shall explain the reasons for a summary denial no later than 15 days after 311 the date of redemption. 312 (5) The Board may grant the motion no earlier than 48 hours after its filing or 24 313 hours after the filing of the latest timely response filed pursuant to paragraph (2), whichever is 314 less. 315 (6) For purposes of a motion filed under this subsection, information recorded in 316 the secure online system shall be presumed true and accurate, unless the Board finds otherwise 317 by clear and convincing evidence. 318 (e) Redemption grants shall be exempt from the requirements of the Grant Administration 319 Act of 2013, effective December 24, 2013 (Subtitle I-J of D.C. Law 20-61; D.C. Official Code 320 § 1-328.11 et seq.). 321 Sec. 112. Security interest in program account. 322 (a) Before the receipt of its first redemption grant, a news outlet shall execute a deposit 323 account control agreement with the depository institution in favor of the District, through the 324 Board, as secured party. The agreement shall create a security interest in the program account to 325 secure the news outlet’s obligation to comply with this title. 326 (b) The agreement shall permit the District, through the Board, to take control of the 327 program account while an event of default has occurred and is continuing, subject to reasonable 328 cure periods set forth in the agreement. 329 (c) The agreement shall manifest the news outlet’s consent to the filing of a financing 330 statement, and any modifications or continuation statements, to give notice of the District’s 331 security interest in the program account.
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332 (d) The District’s security interest in the program account shall be perfected upon 333 execution of the deposit account control agreement and shall have priority over all other liens of 334 any type whatsoever, except liens that may attach from time to time for federal, state, or District 335 taxes due. 336 (e) The Board shall file or cause to be filed a financing statement, and any modifications 337 or continuation statements, in accordance with the Uniform Commercial Code—Secured 338 Transactions, effective October 26, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-201; D.C. Official Code § 28:9-101 et 339 seq.), but no failure to file or defect in such statement shall affect the perfection or priority of the 340 District’s security interest in the program account. 341 (f) In the event that the District, through the Board, takes control of a program account, 342 amounts available in the program account shall be used to take any action necessary to comply 343 with this title or a Board order. 344 (g)(1) If a news outlet is disqualified, fails to renew its registration, or otherwise 345 terminates its participation in the public funding system established by this title, the Board shall 346 immediately exercise control of the program account pursuant to the deposit account control 347 agreement. 348 (2) During a period of such control, the Board shall permit expenditures from the 349 program account only for reasonable costs that were incurred in furtherance of the purposes of 350 this title prior to the Board’s assumption of control. 351 (3) If the duration of the control period exceeds 30 days, the Board or its designee 352 may in its discretion pay the balance of the program account to the General Fund of the District. 353 (h) When the Board has determined that all actions necessary to comply with this title or 354 its orders have occurred, the District shall:
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355 (1) Relinquish control of the program account, subject to the District’s right to 356 retake control in accordance with the deposit account control agreement; or 357 (2) If the news outlet has been disqualified from all future participation in the 358 program, the program account shall be closed. 359 (i) All parties to the deposit account control agreement shall accept jurisdiction in the 360 District of Columbia. District law shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of the 361 agreement. 362 (j) The District shall not be liable to any person for the debts or obligations of any 363 program account or news outlet. 364 Sec. 113. Community Journalism Board. 365 (a) There is established a Community Journalism Board as an independent body of the 366 executive branch to administer the provisions of this title. 367 (b) The Board shall have 7 members serving without compensation and appointed as 368 follows: 369 (1) One member shall be appointed by the Board of Elections; 370 (2) One member shall be appointed by the Board of Library Trustees; 371 (3) One member shall be appointed by the Commission on Arts and Humanities; 372 (4) One member, who shall have at least 5 years of professional experience as a 373 news reporter or editor, shall be nominated by the Mayor; 374 (5) One member, who shall have significant legal experience relating to the First 375 Amendment, shall be appointed by the Attorney General; 376 (6) One member shall be appointed by the State Board of Education; and 377 (7) One member shall be appointed by the humanities council.
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378 (c)(1) Each member of the Board shall be appointed to a 6-year term, except that the 379 initial term of the members appointed pursuant to subsection (b)(4), (5), (6), and (7) of this 380 section shall be 3 years. 381 (2) A member may continue to serve for up to 90 days beyond the expiration of 382 the member’s term, if no successor has been confirmed. 383 (d) A minimum of four members shall be necessary to establish a quorum. The Board 384 may adopt rules to govern its meetings; provided, that such rules shall not conflict with any 385 provision of this title or the Open Meetings Act, effective March 31, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-350; 386 D.C. Official Code § 2-571 et seq.). 387 (e) The Board shall select from its members a president and such other officers as it may 388 determine are necessary. The Board shall designate a secretary, who may be a member or an 389 employee of the Board. 390 (f) No member of the Board shall act in a personal capacity as a registered news outlet, be 391 an owner, governing person, or employee of a registered news outlet, or otherwise benefit 392 financially from any transaction or arrangement with a registered news outlet. 393 (g) No member of the Board shall act in a manner that displays improper favoritism 394 toward a news outlet or that compromises, or appears to compromise, the editorial independence 395 of a news outlet. 396 (h)(1) A member may be removed for good cause by a two-thirds vote of the Board’s 397 members. 398 (2) Members may be removed by their respective appointing authorities. 399 (3) A vacancy on the Board shall be filled by the appointing authority for the 400 remainder of the unexpired term.
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401 (i) The Board and its designees shall have the power: 402 (1) To require any news outlet that is registered or has applied to be registered to 403 submit, within a reasonable time, written reports or answers to questions as the Board may 404 consider necessary; 405 (2) To investigate alleged violations of this title in response to complaints or on 406 the Board’s initiative, and to convene evidentiary hearings and administer oaths and 407 affirmations; 408 (3) To compel by subpoena the deposition of witnesses or the production of 409 records if necessary to investigate an alleged violation of this title; 410 (4) To issue written findings and conclusions supporting a determination by the 411 Board of a violation of this title and, upon such a determination, to issue remedial orders, impose 412 fines, and disqualify for an appropriate period of time a news outlet or person from participating 413 in any way in the public funding system established by this title; provided, that a disqualification 414 order shall be issued only upon a two-thirds vote of the Board; 415 (5) To ensure compliance with this title and the Board’s orders by exercising 416 control of a program account pursuant to a deposit account control agreement; and 417 (6) In case of a failure or refusal to obey a subpoena or order issued by the Board, 418 to petition the Superior Court to punish such refusal as contempt. 419 (j) The Board may enter into contracts, hire employees, and delegate authority to 420 employees as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this title, subject to appropriations 421 made for the Board’s operations. The District shall furnish to the Board such records, 422 information, services, facilities, and equipment as the Board may require to perform its 423 functions.
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424 (k) The Board may issue rules to carry out the provisions of this title, subject to the 425 provisions of An Act to prescribe administrative procedures for the District of Columbia 426 government, approved October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1204; D.C. Official Code § 2-501 et seq.). 427 Sec. 114. Journalism development grants. 428 (a) The Board may award journalism development grants to organizations or individuals 429 providing training or technical assistance to news outlets. 430 (b) The Board may award one or more journalism development grants to the humanities 431 council, notwithstanding any provision of section 1094 of the Grant Administration Act of 2013, 432 effective December 24, 2013 (Subtitle I-J of D.C. Law 20-61; D.C. Official Code § 1-328.13). 433 Sec. 115. Authorization of appropriations; program implementation. 434 (a) Local funds and any other legally available sources are authorized to be appropriated 435 for redemption grants, journalism development funds, administrative expenses of the Board, and 436 any other expense of this title. 437 (b) After the inclusion of the fiscal effect of this title in an approved budget and financial 438 plan, the amount annually appropriated for redemption grants shall: 439 (1) Equal 0.1% (one-tenth of one percent) of General Fund appropriations for 440 operating expenditures in the District’s approved budget and financial plan for the immediately 441 preceding fiscal year, as of October 1 of such fiscal year; and 442 (2) Be clearly set forth in any budget that is proposed or adopted pursuant to 443 sections 442 and 446(a) of the Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 798, 801; 444 D.C. Official Code §§ 1-204.42, .46(a)), excluding supplemental budgets that do not alter the 445 amount appropriated for redemption grants in the fiscal year.
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446 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, and only during the first fiscal year 447 of the Local News Grant Program: 448 (1) The costs of launching the program and developing the secure online system 449 shall be charged against the amount described in subsection (b)(1); and 450 (2) The Board may select any quarter in the fiscal year to launch the issuance of 451 news coupons and payment of redemption grants. 452 TITLE II. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS; APPLICABILITY; FISCAL 453 IMPACT; EFFECTIVE DATE. 454 Sec. 201. Section 2(e) of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. 455 Law 2-142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01(e)), is amended as follows: 456 (a) The penultimate paragraph is amended by striking the phrase “; and” and 457 inserting a semicolon in its place; 458 (b) The last paragraph is amended by striking the period at the end of the 459 paragraph and inserting the phrase “; and” in its place; and 460 (c) A new, sequentially numbered paragraph is added to read as follows: 461 “(XX) Members of the Community Journalism Board who are nominated by the 462 Mayor pursuant to section 113 of the Local News Funding Act of 2025 (Introduced version of 463 B26- ).”. 464 Sec. 202. Section 206(a) the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act, 465 effective March 29, 1977 (D.C. Law § 1-96; D.C. Official Code § 2-536(a)), is amended by 466 inserting a new paragraph (8B) to read as follows:
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467 “(8B) A copy, updated and published on a quarterly basis in a comma-separated 468 value format, of data described in section 107(b) of the Local News Funding Act of 2025 469 (Introduced version of B26- ).”. 470 Sec. 203. Section 5 of the Consumer Protection Procedures Act, effective July 22, 1976 471 (D.C. Law 1-76; D.C. Official Code § 28-3904), is amended as follows: 472 (a) Subsection (ll) is amended by striking the period at the end of the subsection 473 and inserting the phrase “; and” in its place. 474 (b) A new subsection (mm) is added to read as follows: 475 “(mm) Violate sections 109(b) or 110(a) of the Local News Funding Act of 2025 476 (Introduced version of B26- ), or make a false or misleading statement to induce the 477 allocation of a news coupon to a news outlet.”. 478 Sec. 204. Applicability. 479 (a) This act shall apply upon the date of inclusion of its fiscal effect in an approved 480 budget and financial plan. 481 (b) The Chief Financial Officer shall certify the date of inclusion of the fiscal effect in an 482 approved budget and financial plan, and provide notice to the Budget Director of the Council of 483 the certification. 484 (c)(1) The Budget Director shall cause the notice of the certification to be published in 485 the District of Columbia Register. 486 (2) The date of publication of the notice of the certification shall not affect the 487 applicability of this act. 488 Sec. 205. Fiscal impact statement.
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489 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 490 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 491 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 492 Sec. 206. Effective date. 493 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or, in the event of veto by the 494 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 495 provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 496 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)).