II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2434 

To provide tax incentives that support local newspapers and other local 

media, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2021 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. KELLY, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide tax incentives that support local newspapers and 

other local media, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Journalism Sus5 tainability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR LOCAL NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 is amended by inserting after section 25D the fol10 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 25E. LOCAL NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

3 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 

4 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to 

5 the applicable percentage of amounts paid or incurred for 

6 subscriptions to one or more local newspapers for the per7 sonal use of the taxpayer. 

8 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The credit al9 lowed under subsection (a) to any taxpayer for any taxable 

10 year shall not exceed $250. 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes of 

12 this section, the term ‘applicable percentage’ means— 

13 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first taxable year to 

14 which this section applies, 80 percent, and 

15 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent taxable year, 

16 50 percent. 

17 ‘‘(d) LOCAL NEWSPAPER.—For purposes of this sec18 tion— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘local newspaper’ 

20 means any print or digital publication if— 

21 ‘‘(A) the primary content of such publica22 tion is original content derived from primary 

23 sources and relating to news and current 

24 events, 

25 ‘‘(B) such publication primarily serves the 

26 needs of a regional or local community, 


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1 ‘‘(C) the publisher of such publication em2 ploys at least one local news journalist who re3 sides in such regional or local community, and 

4 ‘‘(D) the publisher of such publication em5 ploys not greater than 1,000 employees. 

6 ‘‘(2) LOCAL NEWS JOURNALIST.—For purposes 

7 of paragraph (1)(C), the term ‘local news journalist’ 

8 means any individual who regularly gathers, collects, 

9 photographs, records, writes, or reports news or in10 formation that concerns local events or other mat11 ters of local public interest. 

12 ‘‘(3) AGGREGATION RULE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub14 paragraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (1), all 

15 persons treated as a single employer under sub16 section (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection 

17 (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as 

18 one person. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 

20 shall not apply unless such persons are involved 

21 in the production of the same print or digital 

22 publication. 

23 ‘‘(4) CONTINUOUS QUALIFICATION.—The re24 quirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para25 graph (1) shall not be treated as met unless such reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Jul 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2434.IS S2434

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1 quirements are met at all times during the period 

2 beginning on the date which is 2 years before the 

3 date of the enactment of this section and ending on 

4 the date that the subscription described in sub5 section (a) is paid or incurred. 

6 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS

7 EXEMPT FROM TAX.—In the case of any print or 

8 digital publication which is published by any organi9 zation described in section 501(c) and exempt from 

10 tax under section 501(a)— 

11 ‘‘(A) such publication shall be treated as a 

12 local newspaper only if the publication of print 

13 and digital publications is the primary activity 

14 of such organization, and 

15 ‘‘(B) any person making a charitable con16 tribution (as defined in section 170(c)) to such 

17 organization may elect to treat such contribu18 tion as an amount paid or incurred for a sub19 scription to which this section applies in lieu of 

20 treating such contribution as a charitable con21 tribution for purposes of section 170. 

22 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—No credit shall be allowed 

23 under this section for any amount paid or incurred in a 

24 taxable year ending after the close of 5-year period begin25 ning on the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in4 serting after the item relating to section 25D the following 

5 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Local newspaper subscriptions.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax8 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

9 this Act. 

10 SEC. 3. PAYROLL CREDIT FOR COMPENSATION OF LOCAL 

11 NEWS JOURNALISTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chapter 21 of the 

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 3135. LOCAL NEWS JOURNALIST COMPENSATION 

16 CREDIT. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible local 

18 news journalist employer, there shall be allowed as a credit 

19 against the taxes imposed by section 3111(a) for each cal20 endar quarter an amount equal to the applicable percent21 age of wages paid by such employer to local news journal22 ists for such calendar quarter. 

23 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) WAGES TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The 

25 amount of wages paid with respect to any individual 


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1 which may be taken into account under subsection 

2 (a) during any calendar quarter by the eligible local 

3 news journalist employer shall not exceed $12,500. 

4 ‘‘(2) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT

5 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 

6 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 

7 applicable employment taxes (reduced by any credits 

8 allowed under subsections (e) and (f) of section 

9 3111, section 3131, 3132, and 3134) on the wages 

10 paid with respect to the employment of all the em11 ployees of the eligible local news journalist employer 

12 for such calendar quarter. 

13 ‘‘(3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.—If 

14 the amount of the credit under subsection (a) ex15 ceeds the limitation of paragraph (2) for any cal16 endar quarter, such excess shall be treated as an 

17 overpayment that shall be refunded under sections 

18 6402(a) and 6413(b). 

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The term 

21 ‘applicable percentage’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) in the case of each of the first 4 cal23 endar quarters to which this section applies, 50 

24 percent, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of each calendar quarter 

2 thereafter, 30 percent. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LOCAL NEWS JOURNALIST EM4 PLOYER.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

6 local news journalist employer’ means, with re7 spect to any calendar quarter, any employer 

8 which— 

9 ‘‘(i) is— 

10 ‘‘(I) an eligible local newspaper 

11 publisher, 

12 ‘‘(II) an eligible digital news or13 ganization, 

14 ‘‘(III) a broadcast station, or 

15 ‘‘(IV) a public broadcasting enti16 ty, and 

17 ‘‘(ii) employs local news journalists. 

18 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE LOCAL NEWSPAPER PUB19 LISHER.—The term ‘eligible local newspaper 

20 publisher’ means, with respect to any calendar 

21 quarter, any employer if substantially all of the 

22 gross receipts of such employer for such cal23 endar quarter are derived in the trade or busi24 ness of publishing local newspapers (as defined 

25 in section 25E(d)(1)). 


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1 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE DIGITAL NEWS ORGANIZA2 TION.—The term ‘eligible digital news organiza3 tion’ means a digital information content pro4 vider which is engaged in the creation of origi5 nal local or regional news and information. 

6 ‘‘(D) BROADCAST STATION.—The term 

7 ‘broadcast station’ has the meaning given such 

8 term under section 3 of the Communications 

9 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153). 

10 ‘‘(E) PUBLIC BROADCASTING ENTITY.— 

11 The term ‘public broadcasting entity’ has the 

12 meaning given such term under section 397(11) 

13 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

14 397(11)). 

15 ‘‘(3) LOCAL NEWS JOURNALIST.—The term 

16 ‘local news journalist’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) with respect to any eligible local 

18 newspaper publisher for any calendar quarter, 

19 any individual who provides at least 100 hours 

20 of service during such quarter in the gathering, 

21 collecting, photographing, recording, writing, or 

22 reporting news or information that concerns 

23 local events or other matters of local public in24 terest during such calendar quarter to such em25 ployer, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to any eligible digital 

2 news organization, broadcast station, or public 

3 broadcasting entity for any calendar quarter, 

4 any individual who provides at least 100 hours 

5 of service during such quarter in the original 

6 reporting, gathering, collecting, writing, editing, 

7 producing, verification, recording, 

8 photographing, presentation, design, or tech9 nology support of news or information that con10 cerns regional or local events or other matters 

11 of regional or local public interest. 

12 ‘‘(4) OTHER TERMS.—Any term used in this 

13 section which is also used in this chapter shall have 

14 the same meaning as when used in such chapter. 

15 ‘‘(d) AGGREGATION RULE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All persons treated as a 

17 single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of sec18 tion 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, 

19 shall be treated as one employer for purposes of this 

20 section. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

22 apply unless such persons are involved in the pro23 duction of the same print or digital publication. 


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1 ‘‘(e) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—For purposes of 

2 this section, rules similar to the rules of sections 51(i)(1) 

3 and 280C(a) shall apply. 

4 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This credit shall not apply 

6 to the Government of the United States, the govern7 ment of any State or political subdivision thereof, or 

8 any agency or instrumentality of any of the fore9 going. 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

11 apply to any public broadcasting entity (as defined 

12 in section 397(11) of the Communications Act of 

13 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397(11))). 

14 ‘‘(g) ELECTION TO HAVE SECTION NOT APPLY.— 

15 This section shall not apply with respect to any eligible 

16 local news journalist employer for any calendar quarter 

17 if such person elects (at such time and in such manner 

18 as the Secretary may prescribe) not to have this section 

19 apply. 

20 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL RULES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) EMPLOYEE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

22 MORE THAN ONCE.—An employee shall not be in23 cluded for purposes of this section for any period 

24 with respect to any employer if such employer is alVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Jul 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2434.IS S2434

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1 lowed a credit under section 51 with respect to such 

2 employee for such period. 

3 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Any 

4 wages taken into account in determining the credit 

5 allowed under this section shall not be taken into ac6 count for purposes of determining the credit allowed 

7 under section 45S. 

8 ‘‘(3) THIRD-PARTY PAYORS.—Any credit al9 lowed under this section shall be treated as a credit 

10 described in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. 

11 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall 

12 waive any penalty under section 6656 for any failure to 

13 make a deposit of any applicable employment taxes if the 

14 Secretary determines that such failure was due to the rea15 sonable anticipation of the credit allowed under this sec16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(j) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON ASSESSMENT.— 

18 Notwithstanding section 6501, the limitation on the time 

19 period for the assessment of any amount attributable to 

20 a credit claimed under this section shall not expire before 

21 the date that is 5 years after the later of— 

22 ‘‘(1) the date on which the original return 

23 which includes the calendar quarter with respect to 

24 which such credit is determined is filed, or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the date on which such return is treated 

2 as filed under section 6501(b)(2). 

3 ‘‘(k) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

4 shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and guid5 ance as are necessary— 

6 ‘‘(1) to allow the advance payment of the credit 

7 under subsection (a), subject to the limitations pro8 vided in this section, based on such information as 

9 the Secretary shall require, 

10 ‘‘(2) to provide for the reconciliation of such 

11 advance payment with the amount advanced at the 

12 time of filing the return of tax for the applicable cal13 endar quarter or taxable year, 

14 ‘‘(3) with respect to the application of the cred15 it under subsection (a) to third-party payors (includ16 ing professional employer organizations, certified 

17 professional employer organizations, or agents under 

18 section 3504), including regulations or guidance al19 lowing such payors to submit documentation nec20 essary to substantiate the eligible employer status of 

21 employers that use such payors, and 

22 ‘‘(4) to prevent the avoidance of the purposes of 

23 the limitations under this section. 

24 Any forms, instructions, regulations, or other guidance de25 scribed in paragraph (3) shall require the customer to be 


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1 responsible for the accounting of the credit and for any 

2 liability for improperly claimed credits and shall require 

3 the certified professional employer organization or other 

4 third-party payor to accurately report such tax credits 

5 based on the information provided by the customer. 

6 ‘‘(l) APPLICATION.—This section shall only apply to 

7 wages paid in calendar quarters beginning after the date 

8 of the enactment of this section and beginning before the 

9 date that is 5 years after the first day of the first calendar 

10 quarter to which this section applies.’’. 

11 (b) REFUNDS.—Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of 

12 title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

13 ‘‘3135,’’ after ‘‘3134,’’. 

14 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 for subchapter D of chapter 21 of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 3135. Local news journalist compensation credit.’’. 

18 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR ADVERTISING IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS 

22 AND LOCAL MEDIA. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub24 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45U. ADVERTISING IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND 

4 LOCAL MEDIA. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

6 the case of any eligible small business, the local media ad7 vertising credit determined under this section for any tax8 able year is an amount equal to the applicable percentage 

9 of the qualified local media advertising expenses paid or 

10 incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year. 

11 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The credit allowed under sub12 section (a) to any taxpayer for any taxable year shall not 

13 exceed— 

14 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first taxable year to 

15 which this section applies, $5,000, and 

16 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent taxable year, 

17 $2,500. 

18 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes of 

19 this section, the term ‘applicable percentage’ means— 

20 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first taxable year to 

21 which this section applies, 80 percent, and 

22 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent taxable year, 

23 50 percent. 

24 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE SMALL BUSINESS.—For purposes of 

25 this section, the term ‘eligible small business’ means any 


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1 person for any taxable year if the average number of full2 time employees (as determined for purposes of deter3 mining whether an employer is an applicable large em4 ployer for purposes of section 4980H(c)(2) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986) employed by such person during 

6 such taxable year was less than 50. 

7 ‘‘(e) QUALIFIED LOCAL MEDIA ADVERTISING EX8 PENSES.—For purposes of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified local 

10 media advertising expenses’ means amounts paid or 

11 incurred in the ordinary course of a trade or busi12 ness for advertising— 

13 ‘‘(A) in a local newspaper (as defined in 

14 section 25E(d)), or 

15 ‘‘(B) through a broadcast of, or in the dig16 ital content or digital publications of, a local 

17 radio or television station. 

18 ‘‘(2) LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION.— 

19 The term ‘local radio or television station’ means 

20 any broadcast radio or television station licensed by 

21 the Federal Communications Commission to serve a 

22 local community. 

23 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc25 tion shall be allowed for any qualified local media 


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1 advertising expenses otherwise allowable as a deduc2 tion for the taxable year which is equal to the 

3 amount of the credit determined for such taxable 

4 year under subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons treated 

6 as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of 

7 section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 

8 subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 of such Code, 

9 shall be treated as one employer for purposes of this 

10 section. 

11 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION.—No credit shall be allowed 

12 under this section for any amount paid or incurred in a 

13 taxable year ending after the close of 5-year period begin14 ning on the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

15 (b) CREDIT ALLOWED AS PART OF GENERAL BUSI16 NESS CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue 

17 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end 

18 of paragraph (32), by striking the period at the end of 

19 paragraph (33) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at 

20 the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(34) in the case of an eligible small business, 

22 the local media advertising credit determined under 

23 section 45U(a).’’. 

24 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

25 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 


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1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. Advertising in local newspapers and local media.’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax5 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act. 

Æ 


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