California’s AB 2222, the Community Newsroom Employment and Workforce Sustainability Act, could revolutionize local journalism by providing tax credits to newsrooms, ensuring their survival amid financial challenges.
Sitting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk is Assembly Bill 2222, known as the Community Newsroom Employment and Workforce Sustainability Act, or the Community NEWS Act. This legislation aims to position California as a leader in national efforts to preserve local newsrooms.
The governor has until September 30 to either sign the bill into law or veto it.
Authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward and co-authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, AB 2222 proposes refundable tax credits for local newsrooms based on their employment of journalists. This initiative seeks to ensure workforce stability, particularly for smaller news outlets that are grappling with financial difficulties.
In a state with the largest immigrant population in the U.S. and a significant number of Limited English Proficient (LEP) households, the bill is especially vital for ethnic media outlets. These outlets serve as critical resources, providing essential services such as translating emergency evacuation orders and countering misinformation, as well as covering local school board meetings.
Under the proposed legislation, community-based newsrooms would receive $20,000 in tax credits for each of the first five full-time editorial positions they fill. These positions must involve at least 30 hours of work per week and offer annual compensation of $35,000 or more.
For each additional full-time journalist hired, newsrooms would receive a credit of $15,000. Additionally, there is an incentive of $15,000 for each new reporting position created, while part-time journalists would qualify for a credit of $7,500.
The eligibility criteria for these tax credits are broad, encompassing print, broadcast, digital, nonprofit, and independent family-owned news outlets.
The bill has garnered substantial support in the California state legislature, passing the Senate with a vote of 30-10 on August 30 and the Assembly with a vote of 59-15 on August 31.
This legislative backing is reinforced by an unprecedented coalition of 134 news organizations and press associations that have collectively urged Governor Newsom to sign AB 2222. This coalition includes 94 California-based outlets, regional publishers, labor guilds, and 40 national media associations.
If enacted, the tax credits would not take effect until the 2027 tax year, allowing for prudent state budget planning and protecting current reserves. The bill also mandates annual compliance reports from the Franchise Tax Board starting in 2029 and includes a provision for the credits to automatically sunset after five years, covering taxable years from 2027 through 2031.
Moreover, the credits are designed to be offset by federal tax limits that restrict corporate deductions for executive compensation exceeding $1 million, thereby curbing excessive corporate write-offs.
The potential return on investment from this initiative is significant. Research published in the Journal of Financial Economics indicates that the closure of a local newspaper can lead to a rise in municipal bond borrowing costs by 5 to 11 basis points, resulting in an estimated additional $650,000 in interest on a typical bond issue for local schools, water systems, and infrastructure projects.
However, the value of the bill extends beyond mere financial metrics. When community and ethnic media thrive, they help maintain a trusted communication pipeline essential for delivering important information such as public health directives, farmworker protections, and disaster relief.
The importance of local journalism was starkly illustrated during the 2017 Tubbs Fire, when official English-language alerts failed to reach non-English speakers, putting them at risk. KBBF 89.1 FM, the nation’s first bilingual public radio station, stepped in to provide around-the-clock broadcasts in Spanish, dispelling false rumors about federal immigration agents at evacuation shelters.
Similarly, during the 2019 Kincade Fire, KBBF expanded its broadcasts to include Indigenous languages, such as Mixteco and Triqui, which are commonly spoken among regional farmworkers. In both instances, the station relied on volunteers due to a lack of revenue to sustain a full-time reporting staff.
Further south, Indian Voices has spent years reporting on the toxic sewage crisis in the Tijuana River, which has affected coastal neighborhoods and Kumeyaay ancestral lands, working closely with tribal leaders to raise public awareness.
In Monterey Park, following the tragic Lunar New Year mass shooting in 2023, local journalists fluent in Chinese and Vietnamese worked tirelessly to fill an information void. They translated police briefings for elderly Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking residents who received no official updates during the critical initial hours, dispelling viral rumors and connecting grieving families with victim assistance and mental health resources.
The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the critical role of local journalism in addressing information gaps. A statewide poll conducted in October 2020 revealed that only 29% of Black Californians were likely to get vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to higher percentages among other racial groups. This hesitancy stemmed from a history of medical racism, including the Tuskegee experiments, which continue to influence vaccine skepticism today.
Generic public health messaging was insufficient to bridge this gap. Independent Black media played a crucial role in addressing the historical context of vaccine hesitancy and connecting residents with vaccination resources through trusted community messengers.
Governor Newsom has witnessed the impact of local journalism firsthand. He has consoled grieving families, engaged with community leaders, and spoken with individuals like Brandon Tsay, who heroically disarmed the Monterey Park gunman. The governor has recognized that local community journalists often serve as the only trusted sources capable of linking vulnerable populations to essential state resources.
By acknowledging the significance of local journalism as a vital civic infrastructure, Newsom has taken steps toward national leadership since 2024 by launching the California Civic Media Program and supporting the Propel Initiative. These programs aim to secure investments that bolster the UC Berkeley California Local News Fellowship and enhance newsroom capacity for various organizations, including the Maynard Institute, California Black Media, and the Latino Media Collaborative.
However, these short-term grants cannot provide the ongoing financial support necessary for a newsroom’s daily operations. Without stable funding, community newsrooms struggle to retain the fellows and reporters that the state has invested in training.
AB 2222 seeks to address this critical gap. Advocates urge Governor Newsom to align with the legislative majority, the coalition of 134 media organizations, and the dedicated reporters by signing AB 2222 before the September 30 deadline.
According to American Community Media, this legislation represents a historic opportunity to support local journalism across California and beyond.