Washington legislators can have two alternatives of their upcoming session to help the native information business, in the event that they’re not utterly centered on rising the state funds.
State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, is making ready a brand new model of Senate Invoice 5400, the measure he launched final January to boost taxes on dominant tech platforms taking advantage of native information.
Proceeds would fund grants to help native journalism, potentially raising round $25 million a 12 months.
“I feel we’ve received to maintain this problem entrance and heart,” Liias mentioned, including that he hears “at the least as soon as per week” from constituents and others who thank him for addressing the native journalism disaster.
Liias mentioned particulars are nonetheless being labored out in session with a bunch of publishers and advocates for native information. However the present plan is a enterprise and occupation tax surcharge for firms that personal on-line platforms and are “producing vital income via publishing.”
A key change shall be to create a brand new B&O surcharge on the businesses, somewhat than increase one used for larger schooling, as initially proposed. That appeared like a simple method, however created the looks of competing with schooling.
That is much less bold than a journalism invoice that just about handed in Oregon final summer time and earlier proposals in California, which extra instantly addressed the issue of dominant platforms not pretty compensating publishers.
However a revised model of SB 5400 can be much less more likely to begin a battle royale with Large Tech firms that might delay or kill funding.
Oregon’s measure estimated the worth of stories to Google and Fb within the state to be round $122 million a 12 months. It will have required them to pay that a lot right into a fund principally divided amongst native information organizations.
Native information shops should be pretty compensated by platforms taking advantage of their work. Regulators and courts have discovered publishers have been harmed by Google’s unfair enterprise practices, and different nations are addressing this with insurance policies to assist information organizations get a greater deal.
The issue is worsening as AI makes it tougher for native information organizations to succeed on-line.
States might make a distinction. That’s one motive tech firms are lobbying for a federal coverage stopping states from any type of AI regulation. Congress refused to grant this favor in July however now the White Home is drafting an order directing the Division of Justice to sue states that cross AI laws, The Washington Submit reported final week.
Tackling this could be quite a bit for Washington legislators in a brief 2026 session dominated by funds points. They’re on the lookout for methods to maintain the expansion of state spending, which is outpacing projected income and inhabitants development.
Liias mentioned he was keen to pursue a coverage extra like Oregon’s or the Journalism Competitors and Preservation Act proposed in Congress. However information leaders and advocates have been cautious.
“If I needed to characterize what I heard again, it’s that there’s a lot authorized uncertainty about that mannequin that even when we might get it handed, it could find yourself probably in courtroom and it’s not clear, you already know, what the disposition of that might be,” he mentioned.
Legislators may even be requested to revive funding for a neighborhood journalism fellowship program, created in 2023 and operated by Washington State College. It locations early profession journalists in short-term positions at native information shops.
Funding for the Murrow Fellowships was lower by $1.5 million throughout this 12 months’s legislative session and can expire in 2026.
WSU paused recruitment so the present program will finish when the final of 16 fellows full their stints subsequent October.
Given funds considerations, WSU received’t ask legislators to fund the fellowship once more in 2026, in keeping with Chris Mulick, its senior director of state relations.
However others will, together with this system’s unique sponsor.
“It’s not going to be simple however I feel the fellowship program has confirmed its price,” mentioned former state Sen. Karen Keiser.
She is working with the League of Girls Voters of Washington to tell legislators of this system’s significance and influence.
“I feel they’ll lengthen this system with a funds proviso and a salting of cash,” Keiser mentioned.
Keiser famous that the fellowship funding is trivial within the still-growing state funds, which is $78 billion within the present biennium.
In the meantime, WSU is pursuing help from nonprofit organizations in hopes of constant the fellowships in a doubtlessly completely different type.
“We now have a ton of curiosity in constructing out the following part of this program,” mentioned Ben Shors, journalism chair at WSU’s Murrow Faculty. “We’re extremely enthusiastic about what we will do subsequent to leverage state help to do one thing even higher and extra strong.”
Shors can be attempting to protect legislative protection the fellowship offered earlier this 12 months.
One remaining fellow, Erick Bengel, will switch from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin to Olympia throughout the upcoming session.
“It’s an opportunity to have a reporter in Olympia who’s being attentive to Southeast and Central Washington points for our viewers and it’s an opportunity so as to add to his talent set,” mentioned Greg Halling, who oversees information operations on the Union-Bulletin and the Yakima Herald-Republic, that are owned by The Seattle Occasions.
One other fellow, Questen Inghram, is working on the Yakima paper till April.
“It’s been a godsend,” Halling mentioned of the fellowships. “In Yakima, Questen has principally helped us restore our reporting employees.”
If Washingtonians favor these approaches to supporting native journalism, I encourage them to contact representatives over the following month, as priorities are developed for the approaching session. It’s additionally a superb subject to debate when a lot of them marketing campaign for reelection subsequent 12 months.
