Uncertain progress in Washington journalism support | The Free Press Initiative

Published 1:00 pm Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Legislation to save newsroom jobs in Washington will get a hearing Thursday but its sponsor said passage this year is a longshot.

Separately, lawmakers are throwing a curveball that could cut news outlets’ ad revenue around 10%.

This is a mixed bag but it still highlights the precarious situation for local journalism and the role states can play in its survival. Washington lost 45 newspapers, a 31% decline, since 2004. That includes five lost over the last year.

On the job-saving front, journalism advocates have been working with Sen. Marko Liias on a revised version of Senate Bill 5400 that could be presented this month.

It would raise around $20 million yearly to support newsroom jobs. Funding would come from a tax surcharge on large tech companies profiting from news content.

“We’ve got an uphill climb but we have a revised bill language that incorporates a lot of feedback we heard over the interim,” said Liias, D-Edmonds.

Despite all the work by Liias and public support at hearings last year, it was unclear if Senate Bill 5400 would be heard at all this session.

Legislators are focused on massive changes to the state tax system, including a new income tax, during a short session that’s intended for smaller budget revisions.

Liias said prospects for SB 5400 improved when Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, agreed to pursue a Ways & Means Committee hearing. It’s slated for 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

“As I said before session, the likelihood of getting a big move like this this year is not great,” Liias said, “but we’ve got to keep the issue alive and in front of people to keep the momentum going.”

Oregon has a more ambitious journalism bill in the same position. Senate Bill 1580 would raise around $122 million yearly by requiring Google and Meta to negotiate compensation agreements with news outlets or contribute to a grant fund supporting newsroom jobs.

Like Washington, Oregon is addressing budget cuts during a short session. Oregon’s bill nearly passed last summer, failing by one vote. It also has bipartisan support, with a Republican joining more than a dozen Democrats sponsors this year.

But lobbyists for Google and Big Tech are fighting it, said state Sen. Khanh Pham, a Portland Democrat championing the measure.

“It’s a worthy fight,” she said. “I feel very passionate about the importance of local journalism to healthy communities and a healthy democracy.”

Pham said the bill has “tough odds” during a five-week session starting Monday.

But given federal defunding of public media, newspaper closures and job losses in Oregon newsrooms, “I think it’s more important than ever for our democracy that we invest in journalism and in our information ecosystem,” she said.

Oregon would set a precedent in the U.S. by requiring tech firms to negotiate fair compensation.

That’s needed to address the power imbalance and unfair competition by tech firms shorting news publishers, especially with the rise of AI. AI companies have taken news content, sometimes bypassing website software added to block them, while only paying a few publishers.

Australia and Canada proved such policies work. Even Meta, which blocked news in Canada to avoid paying, is now talking to the Canadian government about participating, the CBC reported last week.

Congress tried but failed to pass its version, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

California’s attempt was scuttled after Google and Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a jointly funded journalism grant program as an alternative. They promised $35 million a year over five years but that program collapsed. Newsom declined to fund it this year, apparently letting Google off the hook.

Perhaps the Northwest can get something done, eventually.

Washington’s SB 5400 would collect a surcharge from companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok. Each would pay a maximum of $6 million yearly.

Proceeds would be distributed to outlets based on the number of journalists they employ. A new provision would set aside 10% for smaller newsrooms.

Also under consideration is using $1 million to extend the journalism fellowship program operated by Washington State University’s Murrow College. Legislators cut its funding last year so the program will taper down unless new revenue is secured.

The college hopes to use the $1 million to match private contributions through Report for America, a Boston-based nonprofit operating a Peace Corps-like program placing temporary journalists in local newsrooms. They aim to place journalists in all 39 Washington counties to increase coverage of civic news.

Less promising is a potential sales tax on advertising legislators are teeing up.

House Bill 2257, which received a hearing last week, could eliminate the current sales tax exemption on local advertising. Charging the tax would take around 10% from advertisers’ budgets, reducing revenue to newspapers, broadcasters and others.

It comes as the state is in court defending a $2.9 billion sales tax measure on advertising and other services passed last year, despite warnings it would prompt a lawsuit.

Comcast sued in September, citing federal law barring differential taxation of electronic commerce. It also seems to me like a First Amendment violation because the state is taxing a form of speech. A Thurston County Superior Court trial is scheduled to begin March 1.

If the state loses, which seems likely, HB 2257 would remove the exemption for local news and other advertising. That could cost the news industry as much as it might receive through journalism support programs.

The state giveth and the state taketh away. But growing newsroom jobs, and ensuring payment for work online, will strengthen local news outlets and the communities they serve.

This is excerpted from the free, weekly Voices for a Free Press newsletter. Sign up to receive it at the Save the Free Press website, st.news/SavetheFreePress. Seattle Times’ Brier Dudley is the editor of the Free Press Initiative, which aims to inform the public about issues facing newspapers, local news coverage, and a free press. You can learn more about the Free Press Initiative, or sign up for a newsletter, at https://company.seattletimes.com/save-the-free-press/.