LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT TAX CREDIT

SB0120

SENATE BILL 120

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Carrie Hamblen
and
Peter Wirth

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; CREATING THE LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT
INCOME TAX CREDIT AND LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT CORPORATE
INCOME TAX CREDIT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
A new section of the Income Tax Act is enacted
to read:

"[
NEW MATERIAL
] LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT INCOME TAX
CREDIT.--

A. For taxable years prior to January 1, 2031, a
taxpayer who is not a dependent of another individual and is
an owner of a local news organization that employs a journalist
may claim a credit against the taxpayer's tax liability imposed
pursuant to the Income Tax Act in an amount provided in
Subsection B of this section. The tax credit provided by this
section may be referred to as the "local journalist employment
income tax credit".

B. The amount of tax credit shall be in an amount
equal to thirty percent of wages paid to each journalist
employed by a local news organization.

C. A taxpayer shall apply for certification of
eligibility for the tax credit from the department on forms and
in the manner prescribed by the department. A taxpayer shall
not be eligible to receive a tax credit for more than seventy-five journalists whom the taxpayer employs as a local news
organization and, except as provided in Subsections F and G of
this section, only one tax credit shall be certified for each
journalist employed by a local news organization per taxable
year. The total annual aggregate amount of local journalist
employment income tax credits and local journalist employment
corporate income tax credits that may be certified in a
calendar year shall not exceed four million dollars
($4,000,000). Completed applications shall be considered in
the order received.

D. If the department determines that the taxpayer
meets the requirements of this section, the department shall
issue a dated certificate of eligibility to the taxpayer
providing the amount of tax credit for which the taxpayer is
eligible and the taxable years in which the credit may be
claimed.

E. That portion of tax credit that exceeds a
taxpayer's income tax liability in the taxable year in which
the credit is claimed shall be refunded to the taxpayer.

F. Married individuals filing separate returns for
a taxable year for which they could have filed a joint return
may each claim only one-half of the tax credit that would have
been claimed on a joint return.

G. A taxpayer may be allocated the right to claim
the tax credit in proportion to the taxpayer's ownership
interest if the taxpayer owns an interest in a business entity
that is taxed for federal income tax purposes as a partnership
or limited liability company and the business entity has met
all requirements to be eligible for the credit. The total
credit claimed by all members of the partnership or limited
liability company shall not exceed the allowable credit
pursuant to this section.

H. A taxpayer allowed to claim a tax credit
pursuant to this section shall claim the tax credit in a manner
required by the department.

I. The tax credit provided by this section shall be
included in the tax expenditure budget pursuant to Section
7-1-84 NMSA 1978, including the total annual aggregate cost of
the tax credit.

J. As used in this section:

(1) "journalist" means a person who:

(a) is paid by a local news organization
to regularly gather, prepare, collect, photograph, record,
direct the recording of, produce, write, edit, report or
publish news or information that concerns state or local events
or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the
state or a local community through reporting activities,
including conducting interviews, observing current events or
analyzing documents;

(b) resides within fifty miles of the
coverage area assigned by the local news organization; and

(c) works as a journalist for the local
news organization for at least twenty-five percent of the
taxable year in which the credit is claimed;

(2) "local news organization" means an entity
that:

(a) provides a print or digital
publication that engages professionals who regularly gather,
prepare, collect, photograph, record, direct the recording of,
produce, write, edit, report or publish news or information
that concerns state or local events or other matters of public
interest for dissemination to the state or a local community
through reporting activities, including conducting interviews,
observing current events or analyzing documents;

(b) pays at least one individual, either
through employment or by contract with the entity, as a
journalist;

(c) in the case of print publications,
has published at least one print publication per month over the
previous twenty-four months and holds a valid United States
postal service periodical permit or has at least thirty percent
of its content dedicated to state or local news;

(d) in the case of digital-only
entities, has published at least four originally produced
stories about the state or a local community per week over the
previous twenty-four months and has at least fifty percent of
its digital audience in New Mexico, averaged over a twelve-
month period;

(e) discloses in its print publication
or on its website its beneficial ownership or, in the case of a
not-for-profit entity, its board of directors;

(f) in the case of an organization that
demonstrates to the department that the organization has been
granted exemption from the federal income tax by the United
States commissioner of internal revenue as organizations
described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,
has declared the coverage of state or local news as the stated
mission in its filings with the federal internal revenue
service;

(g) has not received more than ten
percent of its gross receipts for the previous year from
political action committees or other entities described in
Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, or from an
organization that has been granted exemption from the federal
income tax by the United States commissioner of internal
revenue as an organization described in Section 501(c)(4) or
501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and

(h) is not a publicly traded entity or
is no more than forty-nine percent owned, directly or
indirectly, by a publicly traded entity or subsidiary; and

(3) "wages" means not more than fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) in compensation paid by a local news
organization to a journalist through the organization's payroll
system, including those wages that the journalist elects to
defer or redirect or the journalist's contribution to a 401(k)
or cafeteria plan program. "Wages" does not mean benefits or
the organization's share of payroll taxes, social security or
medicare contributions, federal or state unemployment insurance
contributions or workers' compensation."

SECTION 2.
A new section of the Corporate Income and
Franchise Tax Act is enacted to read:

"[
NEW MATERIAL
] LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT CORPORATE
INCOME TAX CREDIT.--

A. For taxable years prior to January 1, 2031, a
taxpayer that is a local news organization that employs a
journalist may claim a credit against the taxpayer's tax
liability imposed pursuant to the Corporate Income and
Franchise Tax Act in an amount provided in Subsection B of this
section. The tax credit provided by this section may be
referred to as the "local journalist employment corporate
income tax credit".

B. The amount of tax credit shall be in an amount
equal to thirty percent of wages paid to each journalist
employed by a local news organization.

C. A taxpayer shall apply for certification of
eligibility for the tax credit from the department on forms and
in the manner prescribed by the department. A taxpayer shall
not be eligible to receive a tax credit for more than seventy-five journalists whom the taxpayer employs as a local news
organization, and only one tax credit shall be certified for
each journalist employed by a local news organization per
taxable year. The total annual aggregate amount of local
journalist employment corporate income tax credits and local
journalist employment income tax credits that may be certified
in a calendar year shall not exceed four million dollars
($4,000,000). Completed applications shall be considered in
the order received.

D. If the department determines that the taxpayer
meets the requirements of this section, the department shall
issue a dated certificate of eligibility to the taxpayer
providing the amount of tax credit for which the taxpayer is
eligible and the taxable years in which the credit may be
claimed.

E. That portion of tax credit that exceeds a
taxpayer's corporate income tax liability in the taxable year
in which the credit is claimed shall be refunded to the
taxpayer.

F. A taxpayer allowed to claim a tax credit
pursuant to this section shall claim the tax credit in a manner
required by the department.

G. The tax credit provided by this section shall be
included in the tax expenditure budget pursuant to Section
7-1-84 NMSA 1978, including the total annual aggregate cost of
the tax credit.

H. As used in this section:

(1) "journalist" means a person who:

(a) is paid by a local news organization
to regularly gather, prepare, collect, photograph, record,
direct the recording of, produce, write, edit, report or
publish news or information that concerns state or local events
or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the
state or a local community through reporting activities,
including conducting interviews, observing current events or
analyzing documents;

(b) resides within fifty miles of the
coverage area assigned by the local news organization; and

(c) works as a journalist for the local
news organization for at least twenty-five percent of the
taxable year in which the credit is claimed;

(2) "local news organization" means an entity
that:

(a) provides a print or digital
publication that engages professionals who regularly gather,
prepare, collect, photograph, record, direct the recording of,
produce, write, edit, report or publish news or information
that concerns state or local events or other matters of public
interest for dissemination to the state or a local community
through reporting activities, including conducting interviews,
observing current events or analyzing documents;

(b) pays at least one individual, either
through employment or by contract with the entity, as a
journalist;

(c) in the case of print publications,
has published at least one print publication per month over the
previous twenty-four months and holds a valid United States
postal service periodical permit or has at least thirty percent
of its content dedicated to state or local news;

(d) in the case of digital-only
entities, has published at least four originally produced
stories about the state or a local community per week over the
previous twenty-four months and has at least fifty percent of
its digital audience in New Mexico, averaged over a twelve-
month period;

(e) discloses in its print publication
or on its website its beneficial ownership or, in the case of a
not-for-profit entity, its board of directors;

(f) in the case of an organization that
demonstrates to the department that the organization has been
granted exemption from the federal income tax by the United
States commissioner of internal revenue as organizations
described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,
has declared the coverage of state or local news as the stated
mission in its filings with the federal internal revenue
service;

(g) has not received more than ten
percent of its gross receipts for the previous year from
political action committees or other entities described in
Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, or from an
organization that has been granted exemption from the federal
income tax by the United States commissioner of internal
revenue as an organization described in Section 501(c)(4) or
501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; and

(h) is not a publicly traded entity or
is no more than forty-nine percent owned, directly or
indirectly, by a publicly traded entity or subsidiary; and

(3) "wages" means not more than fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) in compensation paid by a local news
organization to a journalist through the organization's payroll
system, including those wages that the journalist elects to
defer or redirect or the journalist's contribution to a 401(k)
or cafeteria plan program. "Wages" does not mean benefits or
the organization's share of payroll taxes, social security or
medicare contributions, federal or state unemployment insurance
contributions or workers' compensation."

SECTION 3
. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act
apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

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