California Assembly Advances AB 2222 to Support Local Journalist Jobs

A bipartisan supermajority of California Assemblymembers voted 63-10 on May 27 to advance a local journalist employment credit bill sponsored by Rebuild Local News, sending the measure to the Senate for consideration.

The Community NEWS Act (AB 2222), introduced by Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward, would award refundable tax credits to California local news organizations to help offset wages for full-time and part-time local journalists. The bill earned bipartisan support on the Assembly floor.

The proposed credits include:

• • Retention Credit – $20,000 each for up to five full-time qualifying journalists, then $15,000 for each full-time qualifying journalists beyond the first five
  • Part-Time Credit – $7,500 for each qualifying part-time journalist
  • New-Hire Credit – An additional $15,000 for each qualifying journalist hired into a new position

During the Assembly Floor Session, Asm. Ward said, “Thousands of newspapers have closed nationwide, newsroom staffing has collapsed, and too many communities are losing access to reliable local reporting. This bill invests directly in local journalism jobs, supporting reporters who are covering schools, local government, public safety and community issues that Californians rely on every day.”

Based on model legislation developed by Rebuild Local News, commercial and nonprofit news organizations across all media formats, including qualified sole proprietors, would be eligible. Similar policies have been enacted in Illinois, New York and New Mexico over the past two years.

The bill is jointly authored with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and co-sponsored by Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor and Josh Lowenthal. It is endorsed by a broad coalition of California independent publishers, journalist unions, ethnic media, journalism educators and broadcasters, including the California Independent News Alliance, SAG-AFTRA, Latino Media Collaborative, Media Guild of the West, Pacific Media Workers Guild, the journalism chairs of the Cal State University system, and the California Broadcasters Association.

Matt Pearce, director of policy for Rebuild Local News, said California’s shrinking local news workforce reflects a national collapse in journalism jobs that the bill is designed to address.

“The United States has lost 75% of its local journalists since 2002, and California ranks among the 10 worst U.S. states in terms of the number of local journalists per 100,000 residents,” said Pearce, citing data from the Local Journalist Index. “The Community NEWS Act goes straight to the heart of the local news crisis by making it more affordable to hire and retain local journalists. We commend California lawmakers for continuing to support efforts to strengthen our community news organizations, and we look forward to the bill’s appearance in the Senate.”