Local Journalism Sustainability Act reintroduced

Posted

The Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 3940) has been reintroduced into Congress. The bill, which is virtually the same as last year, has three important components: 

  1. Payroll Credit for Compensation of Journalists
    1. A five-year refundable credit for local newspapers to employ and adequately compensate journalists.
    2. The credit can be up to $25,000 in the first year and $15,000 in the subsequent four years.
  2. Transitional Tax Credit for Local Newspaper Subscriptions
    1. A five-year non-refundable credit of up to $250 annually to incentivize individual subscriptions to local newspapers.
    2. The credit can cover 80% of subscription costs in the first year and 50% of subscription costs in the subsequent four years.
  3. Credit for Advertising in Local Newspapers and Local Media
    1. A five-year non-refundable tax credit that would incentivize small businesses (less than 50 employees) to advertise with local newspapers as well as local radio and television stations.
    2. The credit can cover up to $5,000 of advertising costs in the first year and $2,500 in the subsequent four years. 

Please reach out to your representatives and ask for their support of this bill, as many of them are in their home district for the next couple of weeks.  A Senate companion bill is also in the works and we hope to have more news on that front soon.

Feel free to use or to share America's Newspapers resource page, which tracks all things related to the LJSA: www.newspapers.org/ljsa