Washington 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: Passed Senate Bipartisan · 12 D · 1 R cosponsors

SB 5400 — Supporting local news journalism.

Last action — Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 13 sponsors

    1 primary, 12 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (12 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

268 added · 212 removed

Plain-language change summary

The recent updates to Senate Bill 5400 have changed the program's name from the "Washington local news sustainability program" to the "Washington local news journalism corps program." Additionally, the criteria for grant eligibility have been modified to allow news providers that employ at least two journalists in Washington state to qualify for support, even if they fall short of the previous three-journalist requirement. These changes aim to broaden access to funding for smaller news organizations, which is important for supporting local journalism and ensuring diverse news coverage in the community.

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S-1565.1 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5400 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senate Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators Liias, Boehnke, Chapman, Cortes, Frame, Krishnadasan, Lovelett, Lovick, Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña, Shewmake, and Valdez) READ FIRST TIME 02/18/25.
S-0693.3 SENATE BILL 5400 State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session By Senators Liias, Boehnke, Chapman, Cortes, Frame, Krishnadasan, Lovelett, Lovick, Orwall, Riccelli, Saldaña, Shewmake, and Valdez Read first time 01/21/25.
Referred to Committee on Labor & Commerce.
adding new sections to chapter 43.330 RCW;
reenacting and amending RCW 43.79.195 and 82.04.299;
adding a new section to chapter 82.04 RCW;
and adding new sections to chapter 43.330 RCW.
and providing an effective date.
1 SSB 5400 (5) Ethnic media has long been a distinctive genre of journalism and communications, informing, engaging, and advocating on behalf of communities underserved by both the for-profit and not-for-profit general market media.
1 SB 5400 (5) Ethnic media has long been a distinctive genre of journalism and communications, informing, engaging, and advocating on behalf of communities underserved by both the for-profit and not-for-profit general market media.
(1) The Washington local news sustainability program is established within the department.
(1) The Washington local news journalism corps program is established within the department.
(3)(a) Applicants eligible for grants under this chapter must meet all of the following requirements:
(3) Applicants eligible for grants under this chapter must meet all of the following requirements:
(i) Be an eligible news journalism provider;
(a) Be an eligible news journalism provider;
2 SSB 5400 (ii) Except for applicants that are eligible publishers of newspapers under section 5(5)(a) of this act, employ at least three news journalists in Washington state per quarter in the four calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant from the department.
2 SB 5400 (b) Employ at least three news journalists in Washington state per quarter in the four calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant from the department.
(b) Except for applicants that are eligible publishers of newspapers under section 5(5)(a) of this act, if an eligible news journalism provider fails to meet eligibility requirements in subsection (3)(a)(ii) of this section solely because they only employ two news journalists working in Washington state, they may qualify for a grant if they have employed at least two news journalists in Washington state per quarter in the eight calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant from the department.
(4) If an eligible news journalism provider fails to meet eligibility requirements in subsection (3)(b) of this section solely because they only employ two news journalists working in Washington state, they may qualify for a grant if they have employed at least two news journalists in Washington state per quarter in the eight calendar quarters prior to receiving a grant from the department.
(c) An eligible publisher of a newspaper covered under section 5(5)(a) of this act may qualify for grants under this chapter without meeting the requirements of (a)(ii) and (b) of this subsection.
(5) The dollar amount of each grant awarded to an applicant must be in an amount proportional to the hours worked by journalists employed by the applicant as reported by the applicant to the employment security department.
(4) The dollar amount of each grant awarded to an applicant must be in an amount proportional to the hours worked by journalists employed by the applicant as reported by the applicant to the employment security department.
(6) An application for a grant under this chapter must be submitted by the applicant in such form and in accordance with requirements as determined by the director.
(5) An application for a grant under this chapter must be submitted by the applicant in such form and in accordance with requirements as determined by the director.
(7) An applicant selected for funding under this chapter shall provide the department information on the news coverage supported by this program.
(6) An applicant selected for funding under this section must provide progress and final reports as requested by the department.
The information shall be provided in progress and final reports as requested by the department, but no less frequently than once per biennium.
(7) The department may consult with civic affairs leaders and local news industry leaders in developing this program.
(8) The department may consult with civic affairs leaders and local news industry leaders in developing this program.
p.
(a) The person holds or operates under a license issued by the federal communications commission under subchapter III (commencing with section 301), chapter 5 of Title 47, United States Code;
3 SSB 5400 (a) The person holds or operates under a license issued by the federal communications commission under subchapter III (commencing with section 301), chapter 5 of Title 47, United States Code;
(b) The person engages professionals to create, edit, and produce original content concerning local or regional matters of public p.
(b) The person engages professionals to create, edit, and produce original content concerning local or regional matters of public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources;
3 SB 5400 interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources;
(c) The person updates their content on at least a weekly basis;
(c) The person updates 25 percent of their content on at least a weekly basis;
(a) A newspaper as defined in RCW 82.04.214.
(a) A legal newspaper as defined in RCW 65.16.020;
However, for the purposes of this chapter, "newspaper" includes publications issued at least once per month;
p.
(iii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service performs a public information function comparable to that traditionally served by newspapers and other periodical news publications;
4 SSB 5400 (iii) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service performs a public information function comparable to that traditionally served by newspapers and other periodical news publications;
(iv) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service engages professionals to create, edit, and produce original content concerning current topics of local or regional p.
(iv) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service engages professionals to create, edit, and produce original content concerning current topics of local or regional public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources;
4 SB 5400 public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources;
p.
(D) The entity is designated as a specially designated global terrorist organization under federal Executive Order No.
5 SSB 5400 (D) The entity is designated as a specially designated global terrorist organization under federal Executive Order No.
NEW SECTION.
p.
Sec.
5 SB 5400 Sec.
The local journalism investment account is created in the state treasury.
RCW 43.79.195 and 2021 c 334 s 971 and 2021 c 170 s 6 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
All revenues from the local journalism investment surcharges created in section 7 of this act must be deposited directly into the account.
(1) The workforce education investment account is created in the state treasury.
All revenues from the workforce investment surcharge created in RCW 82.04.299 and those revenues as specified under RCW 82.04.290(2)(c) must be deposited directly into the account.
Expenditures from the account may be used only in accordance with sections 1 through 5 of this act.
(2) Expenditures from the account may be used ((only for)) as follows:
NEW SECTION.
(a) Beginning July 1, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter, $20,000,000 of the funds deposited in the account must be used to support the Washington local news journalism corps program created in section 2 of this act;
and (b) All remaining funds deposited in the account may be used for higher education programs, higher education operations, higher education compensation, state-funded student aid programs, and workforce development including career connected learning as defined by RCW 28C.30.020.
(((2))) (3) Expenditures from the workforce education investment account must be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funding for higher education.
A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:
RCW 82.04.299 and 2022 c 170 s 1 and 2022 c 56 s 4 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1)(a) Beginning with business activities occurring on or after April 1, 2026, in addition to the taxes imposed under RCW 82.04.290(2), a local journalism investment surcharge is imposed on covered platforms.
(1)(a) Beginning with business activities occurring on or after April 1, 2020, in addition to the taxes imposed under RCW 82.04.290(2), a workforce education investment surcharge is imposed on select advanced computing businesses.
(b) In no case will the combined surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) paid by a covered platform be more than $6,000,000 annually.
(b) Except as provided in (e) of this subsection (1), in no case will the combined surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) paid by all members of an affiliated group be more than ((nine million dollars)) $15,000,000 annually.
(d) The surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) must be reported and paid on a quarterly basis in a manner as required by the department.
(d) The surcharge imposed under this subsection (1) must be reported and paid on a quarterly basis in a manner as required by the p.
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6 SB 5400 department.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(e)(i) To aid in the effective administration of the surcharge in this subsection (1), the department may require persons believed to be engaging in advanced computing or affiliated with a person believed to be engaging in advanced computing to disclose whether they are a member of an affiliated group and, if so, to identify all other members of the affiliated group subject to the surcharge.
(a) "Access" means to acquire, to crawl, or to index content.
(ii) If the department establishes, by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence, that one or more members of an affiliated group, with intent to evade the surcharge under this subsection (1), failed to fully comply with this subsection (1)(e), the department must assess against that person, or those persons collectively, a penalty equal to fifty percent of the amount of the total surcharge payable by all members of that affiliated group for the calendar year during which the person or persons failed to fully comply with this subsection (1)(e).
(b)(i) "Covered platform" means all of the businesses in this state who:
The penalty under this subsection (1)(e) is in lieu of and not in addition to the evasion penalty under RCW 82.32.090(7).
p.
(f) For the purposes of this subsection (1) the following definitions apply:
6 SSB 5400 (A) Had gross income subject to the tax imposed under this section equal to or greater than $5,000,000 in the immediately preceding calendar year;
(i) "Advanced computing" means designing or developing computer software or computer hardware, whether directly or contracting with another person, including:
and (B) Are a social media platform or search engine.
Modifications to computer software or computer hardware;
(ii) "Covered platform" does not mean an organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C.
cloud computing services;
or operating as a marketplace facilitator as defined by RCW 82.08.0531, an online search engine, or online social networking platform;
(ii) "Affiliate" and "affiliated" means a person that directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another person;
(iii) "Affiliated group" means a group of two or more persons that are affiliated with each other;
(iv) "Cloud computing services" means on-demand delivery of computing resources, such as networks, servers, storage, applications, and services, over the internet;
(v) "Control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of more than fifty percent of the power to direct or cause the direction p.
7 SB 5400 of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by contract, or otherwise;
and (vi) "Select advanced computing business" means a person who is a member of an affiliated group with at least one member of the affiliated group engaging in the business of advanced computing, and the affiliated group has worldwide gross revenue of more than twenty- five billion dollars during the immediately preceding calendar year.
A person who is primarily engaged within this state in the provision of commercial mobile service, as that term is defined in 47 U.S.C.
501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code.
332 (d)(1), shall not be considered a select advanced computing business.
(c) "Search engine" means a website, application, or internet based service that provides links to publicly accessible web pages or other relevant information in response to a user's query.
A person who is primarily engaged in this state in the operation and provision of access to transmission facilities and infrastructure that the person owns or leases for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications networks shall not be considered a select advanced computing business.
"Search engine" does not include services that allow users to query only the internal content of a specific site or service.
A person that is primarily engaged in business as a "financial institution" as defined in RCW 82.04.29004, as that section existed on January 1, 2020, shall not be considered a select advanced computing business.
(d)(i) "Social media platform" means a website, application, or internet-based service that:
For purposes of this subsection (1)(f)(vi), "primarily" is determined based on gross income of the business.
(A) Allows users to register an account or profile for the purpose of interacting socially with other users through the service;and (B) Allows users to create, share, and view content through their account or profile.
(2)(a) The workforce education investment surcharge under this section does not apply to:
Such content may include text, links, photos, audio, or video.
(i) Any hospital as defined in RCW 70.41.020, including any hospital that comes within the scope of chapter 71.12 RCW if the hospital is also licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW;
(ii) "Social media platform" does not include services that predominantly or exclusively facilitate electronic mail or direct messaging services, online gaming, reviews of businesses or products, technical support, academic research, or other services that do not predominantly or exclusively facilitate social interaction.
or (ii) A provider clinic offering primary care, multispecialty and surgical services, including behavioral health services, and any affiliate of the provider clinic if the affiliate is an organization that offers health care services or provides administrative support for a provider clinic, or is an independent practice association or accountable care organization.
(3) Revenues from the surcharge under this section must be deposited directly into the local journalism investment account created in section 6 of this act.
(b) The exemptions under this subsection (2) do not apply to amounts received by any member of an affiliated group other than the businesses described in (a) of this subsection.
(c) For purposes of the exemption in (a)(ii) of this subsection:
(i) "Health care services" means services offered by health care providers relating to the prevention, cure, or treatment of illness, injury, or disease.
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8 SB 5400 (ii) "Primary care" means wellness and prevention services and the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions.
(3) Revenues from the surcharge under this section must be deposited directly into the workforce education investment account established in RCW 43.79.195.
Section 7 of this act takes effect January 1, 2026.
Sections 1 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 43.330 RCW and codified with the subchapter heading of "SUPPORTING LOCAL NEWS JOURNALISM." --- END --- p.
NEW SECTION.
9 SB 5400
Sec.
9.
Sections 1 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 43.330 RCW and codified with the subchapter heading of "SUPPORTING LOCAL NEWS JOURNALISM." --- END --- p.
7 SSB 5400
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Action History

  1. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 1:30 PM.

  2. By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

  3. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means at 4:00 PM.

  4. Referred to Ways & Means.

  5. And refer to Ways & Means.

  6. Minority; do not pass.

  7. LC - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.

  8. Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM.

  9. Executive session scheduled, but no action was taken in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM.

  10. Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.

  11. First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 12 co-sponsors · 138 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (12)

Not signed on (138)

138 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights technology
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Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors SB 5400?
SB 5400 is sponsored by Sharon Shewmake (Democrat), Rebecca Saldaña (Democrat), Marcus Riccelli (Democrat), Tina Orwall (Democrat), John Lovick (Democrat), Liz Lovelett (Democrat), Deborah Krishnadasan (Democrat), Noel Frame (Democrat), Mike Chapman (Democrat), Matt Boehnke (Republican), Marko Liias (Democrat), Adrian Cortes (Democrat), and Javier Valdez (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB 5400?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 21, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
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