Newspaper tax break passes WA House and Senate

OLYMPIA – Senate Bill 5199, a measure that gives a tax break for newspaper publishers, passed the Washington House of Representatives 89-7 Monday. It now awaits the signature of Gov. Jay Inslee. “The passage of Senate Bill 5199 shows the importance of newspapers in our local communities,” said Bob Richardson, regional general manager of Hagadone Media – Washington, which publishes the Columbia Basin Herald. “We strive to be the voice of the people in our communities and this allows us to continue to do that well into the future.” SB 5199 reduces the business and occupations tax rate to 0% for newspaper publishing and for news websites that are the successors to newspapers that were published prior to Jan. 1, 2008. The tax break is only effective for 10 years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2024 and there will be a study done to examine the effect of the tax reduction, according to a statement by Rowland Thompson, Executive Director of Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington. The bill was sponsored by Senator Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah), and the House companion bill by Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle). Mullet and Pollet are the former and current chairs of the Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee, which did the tax study enabling the bill...