California's AB 2222 clears the legislature — $20,000 per full-time journalist and $40 million a year, with six states moving $82 million this year
California's legislature passed AB 2222 on August 31, creating a refundable tax credit tied to the number of journalists a local news organization employs. The Senate approved it 30-10 on August 30; the Assembly followed 59-15 the next day. The bill now sits with Governor Gavin Newsom. His deadline to sign or veto is September 30.
The credit is calculated on headcount. Full-time journalists earn $20,000 each for the first five positions and $15,000 for every position after that.
Part-time journalists earn $7,500. Each new hire adds a further $15,000. Because the credit is refundable, nonprofit and small outlets with no tax liability receive the balance in cash. The program is capped at $40 million a year.
The money comes from outside the news industry. California will limit the deduction for executive compensation above $1 million and use the added revenue to cover the credits.
That provision became the axis of the opposition: the California Taxpayers Association (CalTax) and seven other business groups filed a letter against the bill with the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 28. Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward is the lead author, and the nonprofit Rebuild Local News sponsored the bill from introduction.
California tried a different route two years ago. In August 2024 it struck a five-year, $242.5 million agreement with Google and dropped AB 886, the California Journalism Preservation Act, which would have charged platforms for news.
That agreement was cut back in 2025 amid a state deficit. AB 2222 uses tax law rather than a negotiated deal, and pays out on headcount rather than on the outcome of a grant review. U.S. local news has leaned heavily on philanthropy for its funding. Six states will move $82 million to local newsrooms this year through policy, a figure that does not include AB 2222.
Senate 30-10, Assembly 59-15… the governor's finance office flags the absence of a cap
The bill was amended on June 29 before moving to Senate Appropriations and cleared both floors two months later. It had bipartisan support early on and lost some Republican votes once the executive-pay language entered the final markup. The Department of Finance objected that the credits carry no aggregate cap and reward retention more than expansion.
The California News Publishers Association backed the measure. Former state Senator Steve Glazer called it "a safety net for news outlets on the verge of closure." Newsom has not said whether he will sign.
Eight groups sign the opposition letter… the argument is about IRC Section 162(m), not about news
The July 28 letter, filed under the name of CalTax policy vice president Peter Blocker, was cosigned by the California Business Roundtable, the Council on State Taxation, the Family Business Association of California, the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance, the Greater High Desert Chamber of Commerce, the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Solano County Taxpayers Association.
It makes three arguments. California decided in 2019 to conform to Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m), aligning state and federal treatment of the $1 million limit on deductible executive compensation, and AB 2222 would modify or expand that limit beyond federal law. Second, cost: executive pay involves stock-based compensation, deferred arrangements and multi-year incentives, so a separate California regime would require recalculating deductions and tracking compensation twice, raising business costs without improving tax administration. Third, predictability: state-specific limits would create uncertainty in long-term compensation planning, put California employers at a disadvantage in recruiting executives and discourage investment.
The letter does not dispute the case for supporting local news. Every argument attaches to the funding mechanism — the departure from 162(m) conformity. The California Chamber of Commerce also opposed the bill on the grounds that it raises employer taxes.
$20,000 for the first five staff… eligibility runs on 12 months of operation and public ownership disclosure
A qualifying journalist works at least 30 hours a week and earns at least $35,000 a year. The role covers gathering, producing, writing, editing, reporting and presenting local news, and includes photographers and videographers. Workers must be California residents whose primary duties are performed in the state. Part-time roles are credited at roughly half.
Outlets must have operated in California for at least 12 months, disclose ownership and board membership, publish a corrections policy, carry media liability insurance, and remain independent of political action committees and 501(c)(4) organizations. Print, digital and broadcast all qualify, as do for-profits, nonprofits and sole proprietors.
Matt Pearce, policy director at Rebuild Local News, described the mechanism this way: "If you hire more people, you get more money. If you lay people off, you get less money. If you don't employ anyone, you don't get anything." Steven Waldman, the group's founder and president, said tax credits are the most direct way to revive local news because they place no editorial pressure on newsrooms.
Google's contribution fell from $15 million to $10 million… from platform bargaining to the tax code
The 2024 agreement centered on a five-year, $125 million News Transformation Fund — $70 million from the state and $55 million from Google — administered by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and distributed by journalist headcount, with 12% reserved for outlets employing five or fewer journalists in underserved markets. A $62.5 million AI accelerator was attached, and journalists' unions criticized that element over job displacement.
The deal shrank the following year. Citing a $12 billion budget deficit, Newsom cut the state's contribution from $30 million to $10 million. Google matched by reducing its 2025 payment from $15 million to $10 million, while pledging to match up to $5 million in public, private or philanthropic donations. A tax credit is not a line item renegotiated each budget cycle.
New York at $30 million, Illinois at $5 million… six states will move $82 million this year
New York wrote a three-year, $90 million Empire State Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Program into its 2024 budget. At $30 million a year, it credits 50% of wages for existing positions up to $25,000 per employee and a flat $5,000 for each net new full-time job, capped at $320,000 per business per year. Only independently owned outlets — less than 5% owned by publicly traded entities — may apply. Applications opened February 24, 2026 and run through December 31, 2027.
Illinois credits $15,000 per journalist and $10,000 for each net new position from 2025 through 2029. Independently owned outlets are capped at $150,000 a year and commonly owned groups at $250,000, within a statewide annual ceiling of $5 million awarded first-come, first-served. Outlets drawing more than 30% of revenue from political advertising, or more than $100,000 a year from PACs, are excluded.
Some states are raising the money from platforms instead. Utah's SB 287, signed by Governor Spencer Cox, applies a 4.85% tax to targeted advertising. It reaches companies with at least $1 million in targeted-ad receipts sourced to Utah, at least $100 million in worldwide targeted-ad receipts, and at least 50% of total receipts from targeted advertising. It takes effect January 1, 2027, with part of the proceeds directed to civic information programs including local news, and it drew a legal challenge in August. In Vermont, Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order in July steering state advertising to local outlets.
Rebuild Local News estimates that policies in six states — California, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Washington — will deliver $82 million to local newsrooms this year, a figure that excludes AB 2222. The group's target is $1 billion a year, mainly through tax measures.
270,000 newspaper jobs gone… 213 counties have no local outlet at all
The headcount design follows the employment data. Northwestern University's Medill Local News Initiative reported in its 2025 State of Local News study that nearly 40% of U.S. local newspapers have disappeared since 2005, with 136 closing or merging in the past year. There are 213 counties with no local news source and 1,524 with only one; together they hold roughly 50 million people.
Employment fell further. Newspapers alone have shed more than 270,000 positions since 2005, a 75% decline. The journalist occupation dropped more than 7% between 2023 and 2024, leaving about 42,000 journalists across all sectors. Of the 8,000 outlets tracked, 65% sit in metro areas, and 98% of major journalism grant dollars went to urban organizations. Monthly pageviews at the top 100 newspapers fell more than 45% over four years.
Sweden pays 102 million euros… distribution sits with an independent Media Subsidies Council
Five Nordic countries run direct subsidies for commercial news media. Nordicom recorded 2021 payments of 102 million euros in Sweden, 52 million in Denmark and 42 million in Norway, with 2.6 million in Iceland and about 0.5 million in Finland for minority-language outlets in Swedish, Sámi and other languages. Sweden splits its money between press subsidies for operations, distribution and postal costs and media subsidies for local journalism, innovation and editorial support. Denmark's largest line is editorial production support; Norway's is production subsidy.
The paying body is not a ministry. In Sweden the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority administers the scheme and the Media Subsidies Council — appointed by the government but operating independently — decides the payments. Norway uses the Norwegian Media Authority, Denmark the Media Board under the Agency for Culture and Palaces. Common eligibility tests are an independent editorial operation, employment of professional journalists, regular publication and a substantial share of original reporting.
Waldman framed the risk of discretionary allocation this way: "You don't want to ever set up a situation where the governor has some discretionary authority over giving out grants to news organizations." He added that grants paid on a formula, as tax credits are, could work. Rodney Benson, professor at NYU's Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, said the U.S. leans on philanthropy more than other Western democracies, and that philanthropic money favors wealthier communities with a donor base over rural poor areas.
Annual direct support for news media by country and state. Nordic figures are 2021 payments, U.S. figures are annual credit caps, Korea is the 2026 budget. Source: Nordicom, Rebuild Local News, Office of the Governor of New York, Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Australia's 2.5% levy passed in August… Canada took C$100 million from Google
Australia's parliament passed the News Bargaining Incentive in August. Platforms with more than A$250 million in Australian advertising revenue pay 2.5% of that revenue, offset by deals with news publishers: $1 spent on a deal with a large publisher cancels $1.50 of liability, and $1 spent with a small or regional publisher cancels $2. A platform must sign at least eight publisher deals to claim offsets, and no single deal may exceed 25% of its liability. Meta, Google, TikTok and Microsoft's LinkedIn fall within scope.
The scheme replaces the 2021 News Media Bargaining Code, after Meta declined to renew the commercial agreements it had signed under that code — reported at roughly $70 million. The government collects the levy and directs the proceeds to the news sector.
Canada took a different form. Under the 2023 Online News Act, Google pays C$100 million a year in exchange for an exemption, with distribution handled by the nonprofit Canadian Journalism Collective. Meta avoided the law by blocking news content in Canada, which it has done since 2023. Federal journalism competition bills in the U.S. have been introduced several times without passing.
U.S. public broadcasting runs at $1.60 per capita… Nordic countries spend $100 or more
Using Nordicity's international data on public service broadcasting funding, Axios put U.S. per-capita spending on public broadcasters at about $1.60 a year. Nordic countries tend to spend around $100 or more. The U.S. figure predates the funding cut Congress made in July 2025. Research by Benson and other academics found that democracies with narrower information gaps tend to invest more in public media.
International money is moving too. The International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), launched in 2022 by CNN CEO Mark Thompson and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, supports independent media in low- and middle-income countries and has raised $62 million so far, short of its initial $150 million goal for mid-2025. Ten donors recently committed to financing its expansion, securing more than $25 million for 2026 and beyond. At the Paris Peace Forum in October 2025, 29 states signed a commitment to information integrity and independent media.
Annual public funding for public service broadcasting per capita. U.S. and Nordic figures are Nordicity data as compiled by Axios; the Korean figure divides KBS licence-fee revenue by population, so the bases differ. Source: Nordicity, Axios, Journalists Association of Korea
Korea budgets 11.8 billion won for local papers and 20.2 billion for local broadcasters… allocated by committee review
Korean support runs through funds rather than the tax code. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (문화체육관광부) and the Korea Communications and Media Commission (방송미디어통신위원회) budgeted 20.2 billion won ($15 million) for local and small broadcasters in 2026.
The ministry's 14.8 billion won covers 3.5 billion for newsgathering, 7.9 billion for digital transition and 3.4 billion for public-service advertising, while the commission allocated 5.4 billion won for content. Local newspaper support is 11.8 billion won ($8.7 million), up 42% from 8.25 billion won in 2025, with the local newspaper proposal program rising from 300 million to 2 billion won and digital equipment leasing from 1.65 billion to 3.05 billion won.
Structurally, Korea sits closer to the Nordic model. The Local Newspaper Development Fund (지역신문발전기금) is distributed through applications reviewed by the Local Newspaper Development Committee (지역신문발전위원회), and the 2026 criteria lowered the weight on financial soundness while raising the weight on originally reported content and community coverage capacity. A government-appointed independent committee deciding payments resembles Sweden's Media Subsidies Council. California, New York and Illinois instead let a qualifying outlet claim on headcount, with no review discretion in between.
On funding sources the order is reversed. Korea already runs earmarked revenue: the Broadcasting Communications Development Fund (방송통신발전기금) draws levies from broadcasters, and the Press Promotion Fund (언론진흥기금) draws commissions on government advertising.
U.S. states are now building comparable sources through the executive-pay deduction limit and the targeted-advertising tax, and Australia through its advertising levy. Korea, in turn, has no tax credit aimed at news employment, so the size of support is set each year in budget review.
On public broadcasting Korea sits between the two poles. KBS (한국방송공사) licence-fee revenue was 651.6 billion won in 2024, down 33.5 billion won from 685.1 billion in 2023. Collection costs rose after separated billing took effect in July 2024, and advertising revenue fell from 196.7 billion to 167.7 billion won. KBS posted an operating loss of 88.1 billion won and a net loss of 73.5 billion won in 2024. Divided by population, licence-fee revenue works out to roughly 12,600 won ($9) per person.
The gap each side is aiming at looks similar. The Korea Press Foundation's (한국언론진흥재단) 2025 newspaper industry survey put 2024 industry revenue at 5.305 trillion won ($3.9 billion), the first time above 5 trillion. The 59 companies with revenue above 10 billion won — 0.9% of the total — took 59.6% of industry revenue, while 58.1% of businesses earned under 100 million won a year and accounted for 2.5%. Print outlets rely on advertising for 66% of revenue and internet outlets for 61%. Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young (최휘영) said local media are central to residents' right to know and to local democracy.
Deadline Sep 30… the governor cut the state's Google contribution by two-thirds last year
One step remains. Newsom must sign or veto by September 30. His office has generally opposed bills that alter state finances outside the regular budget process, and in 2025 he reduced the state's Google commitment from $30 million to $10 million. AB 2222 works around that objection by carrying its own revenue in the executive-pay provision — the same provision that drew the eight-group opposition letter.
If signed, it becomes the largest single-state spend on local news in the country. Neither New York's program, which opened in 2026, nor Illinois', which began in 2025, has produced outcome data yet. Whether this class of support raises newsroom headcount or slows its decline will be visible only in several years of filings.
Notes on attribution
Text in quotation marks is a statement as reported by the outlet cited or as written in the document cited. Passages without quotation marks summarize that reporting. Currency conversions use 1,350 won to the U.S. dollar, 1,570 won to the euro and 980 won to the Canadian dollar, rounded.
Sources
· Axios, "Landmark local news bill heads to Gov. Newsom's desk," Sara Fischer, September 1, 2026
· Axios, "A global quest to save local news," Sara Fischer, November 8, 2025 — Benson and Waldman quotes, per-capita public broadcasting funding, IFPIM totals, Australia and Canada
· California Taxpayers Association and seven cosigners, "OPPOSITION to AB 2222 (Ward), as amended on June 29, 2026," letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, July 28, 2026, under the name of Peter Blocker — the three 162(m) arguments and the list of signatories
· Rebuild Local News, "California Legislature Passes Nation's Largest Proposed Investment in Community News," August 31, 2026 — vote counts, authors, the $82 million six-state estimate
· Rebuild Local News, "Explainer: California's Community NEWS Act (AB 2222)" — credit amounts, journalist and outlet eligibility
· Nieman Lab, "California passes a major local news funding bill," August 31, 2026 — Matt Pearce quote, funding mechanism
· Governing, "California Could Spend $40 Million a Year to Save Local News" — opposition groups, Department of Finance objection, signing deadline, Steve Glazer quote
· Nieman Lab, "Newsonomics: California's local news agreement with Google is a win," September 2024 — structure of the 2024 Google agreement
· Yahoo News (syndicated), "California, Google rework first-in-nation journalism deal amid state deficit" — 2025 reductions
· Office of the Governor of New York and Inside Radio — New York program design, caps, application window
· Rebuild Local News, "Illinois' Landmark Legislation to Support Local News" — Illinois credit amounts, caps, eligibility
· RSM US, "Utah enacts targeted advertising tax," 2026, and The Salt Lake Tribune, August 4, 2026 — SB 287 and the legal challenge
· Nordicom, "Direct media subsidies to news media – a Nordic overview" — 2021 payments by country, administering bodies, eligibility
· Medianama, "Australia passes law to make big tech pay for news," August 2026, and The Daily Aus, August 3, 2026 — levy rate, offsets, thresholds
· CBC and Indiegraf — Canada's Online News Act, Google's C$100 million, the Canadian Journalism Collective
· Medill Local News Initiative, The State of Local News 2025, as reported by Nieman Lab, October 2025 — closures, news deserts, employment decline
· ZDNet Korea (지디넷코리아), January 27, 2026 — Korean budget breakdown and the minister's remarks
· NewsFreezone (뉴스프리존) — Local Newspaper Development Fund increase and revised review criteria
· Journalists Association of Korea (한국기자협회) — KBS licence-fee, advertising and loss figures
· Korea Press Foundation (한국언론진흥재단), 2025 Newspaper Industry Survey, as reported by The CEN News (더쎈뉴스) — revenue and concentration figures