Rebuild Local News Coalition Applauds House Action on Local News

Coalition chair, Steven Waldman, issued the following statement:

“This is a huge step forward for a strong, local press — and for the communities they serve. The collapse of local news threatens each community’s ability to address education, COVID, health care, and the other problems they care most about. Without accurate local information, we’ll have more corruption, more misinformation, more waste, and more polarization.

The payroll tax credit approved today by the House of Representatives is a simple, content-neutral, nonpartisan, First-Amendment-friendly way to save local news and make sure communities get covered.

What’s more, the version approved by the House includes important improvements in the legislation that have come about in part from ongoing conversations with local newsrooms and Senate supporters of the legislation.

We thank the strong supporters in the House of Representatives who made this happen, as well as the Republicans who have advocated for this nonpartisan approach in the past.

It is now up to the Senate. If Congress passes this tax credit, it will help communities get the trusted local news and information that they deserve and need.”

The Rebuild Local News Coalition advocates for public policies to create a stronger, more inclusive local news system. See a list of our members and their statements on the local news tax credit below:

America’s Newspapers

“The role that local newspapers play in their communities is central to our democracy,” America’s Newspapers CEO Dean Ridings said. “Strong newspapers, staffed by professional journalists, ensure that our citizens are kept informed and our government remains strong.”

The News Guild

“ This legislation will support local news journalists pure and simple,” NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss wrote in a statement. “Not only will it help support the journalists currently employed, but I expect it to boost hiring across the country. In the first year, local news organizations will get a $25,000 tax credit for every full-time local journalist employed. It’ll continue at $15,000 a year in years 2-5.”

American Journalism Project

“The American Journalism Project is dedicated to building, sustaining and catalyzing local news. We are encouraged by this latest development and the House passage of the Build Back Better Act which includes a refundable payroll tax credit for local news. This is an important and critical next step that acknowledges the importance of local news and the vital service it provides to communities across the nation.”

Lenfest Institute

“We join in thanking those in the House of Representatives who ensured that this provision was included in the bill, and the bipartisan coalition that has advocated for this approach, which respects First Amendment rights,” Jim Friedlich, Executive Director & CEO said. “We urge the Senate to now pass the tax credit to ensure communities here in Pennsylvania and around the country can access high-quality local journalism.”

National Newspaper Association

Institute for Nonprofit News

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Local Independent Online News

National Association of Hispanic Publications

National Federation of Community Broadcasters

Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Report for America / The GroundTruth Project

Solutions Journalism Network

Local News Consortium

Chalkbeat

PEN America

Public Knowledge

Rebuild Local News is an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. The coalition’s chair, Steven Waldman, is president and co-founder of Report for America, also an initiative of the GroundTruth Project.

Learn more about the coalition and its policy proposals at rebuildlocalnews.org. For more information, here is a summary of the provision and here is the full text included in Build Back Better.