Local news journalism

AN ACT Relating to supporting local news journalism; reenacting 1
and amending RCW 43.79.195 and 82.04.299; and adding new sections to 2
chapter 43.330 RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares the 5
following:6
(1) A free and diverse fourth estate was critical in the founding 7
of our democracy and continues to be the lifeblood for a functioning 8
democracy. 9
(2) Every day, journalism plays an essential role in Washington 10
and in local communities. The ability of local news organizations to 11
continue to provide the public with critical information about their 12
communities, including creating content that is used by others, will 13
preserve and ensure the sustainability of local and diverse news 14
outlets. 15
(3) Communities without newspapers lose touch with government, 16
business, education, and neighbors. They operate without journalists 17
working to keep them informed, uncover truth, expose corruption, and 18
share common goals and experiences. 19
(4) Over the past 10 years, newspaper advertising has decreased 20
66 percent, and newsroom staff have declined 44 percent.21
S-0693.3
SENATE BILL 5400
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Liias, Boehnke, Chapman, Cortes, Frame, Krishnadasan,
Lovelett, Lovick, Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña, Shewmake, and Valdez
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.
p. 1 SB 5400
(5) Ethnic media has long been a distinctive genre of journalism 1
and communications, informing, engaging, and advocating on behalf of 2
communities underserved by both the for-profit and not-for-profit 3
general market media. It plays a unique role in upholding the fourth 4
estate in our democracy by facilitating cross-racial and cross-ethnic 5
communications to facilitate social integration, promote civic 6
engagement, and address inequalities among all underserved 7
communities. 8
(6) Given the important role of ethnic media, it is critical to 9
advance state policy that ensures their publishers continue to employ 10
journalists able to create content. An excellent example is the 11
historic preamble, "We Wish to Plead Our Own Cause," a document 12
penned by the African American journalist and abolitionist Samuel 13
Cornish in 1827. It marked a significant milestone in the history of 14
the Black press as it highlighted the urgent need for African 15
Americans to have their own platform to voice their grievances, 16
advocate for their rights, and challenge racial inequality. This call 17
to action spurred the establishment of numerous Black-owned 18
newspapers and publications, solidifying the role of the Black press 19
as a powerful tool for empowerment and social change, and laid the 20
groundwork in our country for other ethnic media to plead their own 21
cause. 22
(7) Quality local journalism is key to sustaining civic society, 23
strengthening communal ties, and providing information at a deeper 24
level that national outlets cannot match. 25
(8) 73 percent of United States adults surveyed said they have 26
confidence in their local newspaper. 27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The Washington local news journalism 28
corps program is established within the department. The director 29
shall make grants to eligible applicants, in accordance with this 30
section.31
(2) Grants made under this section shall be used to support the 32
employment of news journalists covering civic affairs in underserved 33
communities to deepen community understanding of complex community 34
issues and policies. 35
(3) Applicants eligible for grants under this chapter must meet 36
all of the following requirements: 37
(a) Be an eligible news journalism provider; and38
p. 2 SB 5400
(b) Employ at least three news journalists in Washington state 1
per quarter in the four calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant 2
from the department. 3
(4) If an eligible news journalism provider fails to meet 4
eligibility requirements in subsection (3)(b) of this section solely 5
because they only employ two news journalists working in Washington 6
state, they may qualify for a grant if they have employed at least 7
two news journalists in Washington state per quarter in the eight 8
calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant from the department.9
(5) The dollar amount of each grant awarded to an applicant must 10
be in an amount proportional to the hours worked by journalists 11
employed by the applicant as reported by the applicant to the 12
employment security department. 13
(6) An application for a grant under this chapter must be 14
submitted by the applicant in such form and in accordance with 15
requirements as determined by the director. 16
(7) An applicant selected for funding under this chapter shall 17
provide the department information on the news coverage supported by 18
this program. The information shall be provided in progress and final 19
reports as requested by the department, but no less frequently than 20
once per biennium. 21
(8) The department may consult with civic affairs leaders and 22
local news industry leaders in developing this program.23
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department, the employment security 24
department, and the department of revenue may share data as needed to 25
implement sections 2 and 5 of this act.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department may adopt rules to 27
implement sections 2 and 5 of this act.28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. For the purposes of this act, the 29
following definitions apply:30
(1) "Eligible broadcaster" means a person that meets all of the 31
following criteria: 32
(a) The person holds or operates under a license issued by the 33
federal communications commission under subchapter III (commencing 34
with section 301), chapter 5 of Title 47, United States Code;35
(b) The person engages professionals to create, edit, and produce 36
original content concerning local or regional matters of public 37
p. 3 SB 5400
interest through activities, including conducting interviews, 1
observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, 2
or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news 3
sources; 4
(c) The person updates 25 percent of their content on at least a 5
weekly basis; and 6
(d) The person uses an editorial process for error correction and 7
clarification, including a transparent process for reporting errors 8
or complaints to the station. 9
(2) "Eligible news journalism provider" means an eligible 10
publisher or eligible broadcaster that discloses its ownership to the 11
public. 12
(3) "Eligible publisher" means a person that publishes a 13
qualifying publication. 14
(4) "News journalist" means a natural person who meets both of 15
the following criteria: 16
(a) The person is employed for an average of at least 30 hours 17
per week during a calendar quarter by the eligible news journalism 18
provider; and 19
(b) The person is responsible for gathering, developing, 20
preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, 21
photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, designing, 22
presenting, or publishing original news or information that concerns 23
local or regional matters of public interest. 24
(5) "Qualifying publication" means either: 25
(a) A legal newspaper as defined in RCW 65.16.020; or26
(b) An internet website, online or mobile application, or other 27
digital service that meets all of the following criteria:28
(i) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 29
digital service does not primarily display, provide, or offer content 30
generated, created, produced, or owned by an eligible broadcaster;31
(ii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 32
digital service provides information to an audience in the state;33
(iii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or 34
other digital service performs a public information function 35
comparable to that traditionally served by newspapers and other 36
periodical news publications; 37
(iv) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 38
digital service engages professionals to create, edit, and produce 39
original content concerning current topics of local or regional 40
p. 4 SB 5400
public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, 1
observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, 2
or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news 3
sources; 4
(v) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 5
digital service updates 25 percent of its content with original 6
content they create on at least a weekly basis; 7
(vi) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 8
digital service has an editorial process for error correction and 9
clarification, including a transparent process for reporting errors 10
or complaints to the publication; 11
(vii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or 12
other digital service meets any of the following criteria:13
(A) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 14
digital service had an international standard serial number assigned 15
to an affiliated periodical; or 16
(B) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 17
digital service is owned or controlled by an organization exempt from 18
federal income taxation pursuant to Title 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501 (c)(3) of 19
the federal internal revenue code; 20
(viii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or 21
other digital service provides at least 25 percent of its editorial 22
content consisting of information about current topics of local or 23
regional public interest; and 24
(ix) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other 25
digital service is not controlled by, or wholly or partially owned 26
by, an entity that meets any of the following criteria:27
(A) The entity is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, 28
as those terms are defined in 50 U.S.C. Sec. 1801;29
(B) The entity is designated as a foreign terrorist organization 30
pursuant to 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1189; 31
(C) The entity is a terrorist organization, as defined in 8 32
U.S.C. Sec. 1182; 33
(D) The entity is designated as a specially designated global 34
terrorist organization under federal Executive Order No. 13224;35
(E) The entity is an affiliate of an entity described in 36
(b)(ix)(A) through (D) of this subsection; or 37
(F) The entity has been convicted of violating, or attempting to 38
violate, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 2331, 2332b, or 2339A. 39
p. 5 SB 5400
Sec. 6. RCW 43.79.195 and 2021 c 334 s 971 and 2021 c 170 s 6 1
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 2
(1) The workforce education investment account is created in the 3
state treasury. All revenues from the workforce investment surcharge 4
created in RCW 82.04.299 and those revenues as specified under RCW 5
82.04.290(2)(c) must be deposited directly into the account. Moneys 6
in the account may be spent only after appropriation.7
(2) Expenditures from the account may be used ((only for )) as 8
follows:9
(a) Beginning July 1, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter, 10
$20,000,000 of the funds deposited in the account must be used to 11
support the Washington local news journalism corps program created in 12
section 2 of this act; and13
(b) All remaining funds deposited in the account may be used for 14
higher education programs, higher education operations, higher 15
education compensation, state-funded student aid programs, and 16
workforce development including career connected learning as defined 17
by RCW 28C.30.020. 18
(((2))) (3) Expenditures from the workforce education investment 19
account must be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, 20
state, and local funding for higher education. 21
Sec. 7. RCW 82.04.299 and 2022 c 170 s 1 and 2022 c 56 s 4 are 22
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 23
(1)(a) Beginning with business activities occurring on or after 24
April 1, 2020, in addition to the taxes imposed under RCW 25
82.04.290(2), a workforce education investment surcharge is imposed 26
on select advanced computing businesses. The surcharge is equal to 27
the gross income of the business subject to the tax under RCW 28
82.04.290(2), multiplied by the rate of 1.22 percent.29
(b) Except as provided in (e) of this subsection (1), in no case 30
will the combined surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) paid by 31
all members of an affiliated group be more than ((nine million 32
dollars)) $15,000,000 annually. 33
(c) For persons subject to the surcharge imposed under this 34
subsection (1) that report under one or more tax classifications, the 35
surcharge applies only to business activities taxed under RCW 36
82.04.290(2). 37
(d) The surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) must be 38
reported and paid on a quarterly basis in a manner as required by the 39
p. 6 SB 5400
department. Returns and amounts payable under this subsection (1) are 1
due by the last day of the month immediately following the end of the 2
reporting period covered by the return. All other taxes must be 3
reported and paid as required under RCW 82.32.045. 4
(e)(i) To aid in the effective administration of the surcharge in 5
this subsection (1), the department may require persons believed to 6
be engaging in advanced computing or affiliated with a person 7
believed to be engaging in advanced computing to disclose whether 8
they are a member of an affiliated group and, if so, to identify all 9
other members of the affiliated group subject to the surcharge.10
(ii) If the department establishes, by clear, cogent, and 11
convincing evidence, that one or more members of an affiliated group, 12
with intent to evade the surcharge under this subsection (1), failed 13
to fully comply with this subsection (1)(e), the department must 14
assess against that person, or those persons collectively, a penalty 15
equal to fifty percent of the amount of the total surcharge payable 16
by all members of that affiliated group for the calendar year during 17
which the person or persons failed to fully comply with this 18
subsection (1)(e). The penalty under this subsection (1)(e) is in 19
lieu of and not in addition to the evasion penalty under RCW 20
82.32.090(7). 21
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (1) the following 22
definitions apply: 23
(i) "Advanced computing" means designing or developing computer 24
software or computer hardware, whether directly or contracting with 25
another person, including: Modifications to computer software or 26
computer hardware; cloud computing services; or operating as a 27
marketplace facilitator as defined by RCW 82.08.0531, an online 28
search engine, or online social networking platform;29
(ii) "Affiliate" and "affiliated" means a person that directly or 30
indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is 31
controlled by, or is under common control with another person;32
(iii) "Affiliated group" means a group of two or more persons 33
that are affiliated with each other; 34
(iv) "Cloud computing services" means on-demand delivery of 35
computing resources, such as networks, servers, storage, 36
applications, and services, over the internet; 37
(v) "Control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of 38
more than fifty percent of the power to direct or cause the direction 39
p. 7 SB 5400
of the management and policies of a person, whether through the 1
ownership of voting shares, by contract, or otherwise; and2
(vi) "Select advanced computing business" means a person who is a 3
member of an affiliated group with at least one member of the 4
affiliated group engaging in the business of advanced computing, and 5
the affiliated group has worldwide gross revenue of more than twenty-6
five billion dollars during the immediately preceding calendar year. 7
A person who is primarily engaged within this state in the provision 8
of commercial mobile service, as that term is defined in 47 U.S.C. 9
Sec. 332 (d)(1), shall not be considered a select advanced computing 10
business. A person who is primarily engaged in this state in the 11
operation and provision of access to transmission facilities and 12
infrastructure that the person owns or leases for the transmission of 13
voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications 14
networks shall not be considered a select advanced computing 15
business. A person that is primarily engaged in business as a 16
"financial institution" as defined in RCW 82.04.29004, as that 17
section existed on January 1, 2020, shall not be considered a select 18
advanced computing business. For purposes of this subsection 19
(1)(f)(vi), "primarily" is determined based on gross income of the 20
business. 21
(2)(a) The workforce education investment surcharge under this 22
section does not apply to: 23
(i) Any hospital as defined in RCW 70.41.020, including any 24
hospital that comes within the scope of chapter 71.12 RCW if the 25
hospital is also licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW; or26
(ii) A provider clinic offering primary care, multispecialty and 27
surgical services, including behavioral health services, and any 28
affiliate of the provider clinic if the affiliate is an organization 29
that offers health care services or provides administrative support 30
for a provider clinic, or is an independent practice association or 31
accountable care organization. 32
(b) The exemptions under this subsection (2) do not apply to 33
amounts received by any member of an affiliated group other than the 34
businesses described in (a) of this subsection. 35
(c) For purposes of the exemption in (a)(ii) of this subsection:36
(i) "Health care services" means services offered by health care 37
providers relating to the prevention, cure, or treatment of illness, 38
injury, or disease. 39
p. 8 SB 5400
(ii) "Primary care" means wellness and prevention services and 1
the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions. 2
(3) Revenues from the surcharge under this section must be 3
deposited directly into the workforce education investment account 4
established in RCW 43.79.195. 5
(4) The department has the authority to determine through an 6
audit or other investigation whether a person is subject to the 7
surcharge imposed in this section. 8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 5 of this act are each 9
added to chapter 43.330 RCW and codified with the subchapter heading 10
of "SUPPORTING LOCAL NEWS JOURNALISM."11
--- END ---
p. 9 SB 5400