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Bill would create refundable payroll credit for journalists to shore up local newsrooms; publishers and guild urge support
Summary
House Bill 891 would create a refundable payroll tax credit to subsidize local journalism jobs: $25,000 per full-time journalist in year one and $15,000 in years two through five. Supporters argued that targeted employment credits would help preserve local reporting and civic accountability.
Delegate Vogel presented House Bill 891, a refundable payroll credit for local journalists that would pay up to $25,000 for a full-time reporter in the first year and $15,000 in subsequent years for a five-year span. Vogel told the committee the state is seeing newsroom losses that threaten civic life and local government accountability.
Rebecca Snyder of the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association said Maryland hasn’t yet seen the closures that other states have experienced, but newsrooms in the state have shrunk and require immediate support. National and local representatives — including publishers from Frederick and advocates from Rebuild Local News — urged the committee to enact an employer-targeted incentive that preserves editorial independence while making it more affordable to employ journalists covering local government, schools and courts.
The NewsGuild and other union representatives urged a credit targeted to journalism employment as a direct and efficient way to support newsgathering jobs. Publishers described steep industry declines since 2005 and local examples where newsroom staffing and coverage have fallen.
Members did not vote; questions focused on program design, eligibility (for-profit and nonprofit), and administrative questions about refunds, payroll tax mechanics and measures to ensure funds bolster reporting jobs rather than unrelated overhead.
