Washingtonians care deeply about the survival of their local news organizations, judging from a Tuesday legislative hearing in Olympia.

More than 500 people signed in to testify on state Senate Bill 5400, which would increase a surcharge on large tech companies to fund a $20 million grant program for local journalism.

That included 423 who signed up to testify in support of the bill and 81 against, according to state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, chair of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.

Unfortunately, fewer than 20 were given a chance to testify either in-person or remotely before the committee’s hearing ended after two hours.

One question left hanging is whether the Legislature can address concerns of tech companies without having to craft another funding model, which could delay and potentially scuttle the proposal.

Meanwhile, local news organizations are struggling, according to those who did testify.

“This bill would provide a financial lifeline for small organizations like ours,” said Teresa Wippel, president and CEO of My Neighborhood News Network, a group of nonprofit outlets in Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.

Ben Campbell, co-owner and publisher of The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, said its newsroom is down by half over the last 20 years.

“Despite our long history and the dedication of our staff, every year’s a struggle,” he said. “The financial pressures on local news organizations like ours are increasingly intense.”

Even the state’s largest newspaper, The Seattle Times, “is not immune,” President and Chief Financial Officer Alan Fisco testified. He said the company lost $2 million over the last five years keeping its newspapers in Yakima and Walla Walla going.

The bill would provide yearly grants of around $13,000 to $15,000 per journalist. Recipients would need to have employed at least three journalists over the last year or two over the last two years. Grants would be administered by the Department of Commerce and given to all that qualify, with no decisions based on subject matter or ability to influence coverage.

Several trade groups testified against the bill. Emily Wittman from the Association of Washington Business said it would “divert money” from low- and middle-income students, and Rose Feliciano of TechNet said the education surcharge program is working and “we would not want to lessen its impact.”

It’s incorrect and misleading to suggest SB 5400 would reduce education funding. By collecting more from the state’s wealthiest tech companies, the bill may actually increase funding for education.

In 2019 the state added a business tax surcharge, now 0.25%, on the state’s largest software companies to support higher education and student aid.

SB 5400 would lift a cap on how much is collected from individual companies by that surcharge, from $9 million to $15 million.

Raising the cap is expected to collect at least $20 million more from the companies. Any additional revenue beyond $20 million would go to the education programs.

“We’re not trying to divert anything, we’re trying to be additive,” state Sen. Marko Liias, the bill’s lead sponsor, told me after the hearing.

Liias said he’s open to discussing funding options with tech companies, potentially including a new surcharge for the journalism program.

“We’ll keep talking with them and figure out what they can live with and how to get to the finish line,” he told me last week.

I appreciate concerns about tapping a funding source created for education, because there’s a risk that the Legislature could keep going and use proceeds for other things.

But as I wrote Sunday, there’s a case that supporting local journalism is a form of education. It’s also easier than requiring tech companies to negotiate fair compensation with news organizations, which should be federal law.

Also testifying were representatives of Gig Harbor Now, a nonprofit, digital news startup that has one newsroom employee. They asked to allow freelancers to count toward the minimum staffing requirements.

I’m all for startups like Gig Harbor Now and know the importance of freelancers to small publications. But the legislation must support employment of full-time, professional journalists providing civic news coverage.

If SB 5400 is changed to count freelancers, that could discourage hiring full-time journalists with benefits. Outlets could fire full-timers, turn to more freelancers and use state grants to cover their payments, lowering their payroll and investment in journalism. The bill should incentivize news outlets to hire more, not fewer, professional journalists.

As currently written, the bill might help outlets like Gig Harbor Now fundraise. Donors might be more willing to help fund another full-time journalist knowing that will also qualify the outlet for grants.

One more suggestion: I think SB 5400 should include language making it clear that grants cannot go to organizations registered with the IRS as political or that are controlled by political organizations. Washington could borrow language to this effect that’s in New York’s journalism support bill.

On a personal note, I’m grateful to all the people who signed up to speak for a proposal to help local journalism.

I also appreciate the nudge by the landlady of Sen. Liias.

Liias told me that when he went back to his Olympia apartment this week, she had taped my columns urging passage of SB 5400 to his front door. Love it.

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/.