STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 625--C 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 5, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, ADDABBO, ASHBY, BORRELLO, BRESLIN, BROUK, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, KENNEDY, LIU, MANNION, MYRIE, PALUMBO, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Budget and Revenue -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Budget and Revenue in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a payroll tax credit for compensation of journalists; and to provide for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "local 2 journalism sustainability act". 3 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 24-d to read as 4 follows: 5 § 24-d. Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (a) In gener- 6 al. An eligible news journalist employer which is subject to tax under 7 article nine-A or twenty-two of this chapter shall be allowed a credit 8 against such tax, to be computed as provided in this section, for each 9 calendar quarter an amount equal to the applicable percentage of wages 10 paid by such employer to news journalists for such calendar quarter. 11 (b) Limitations. (1) The amount of wages paid with respect to any 12 individual which may be taken into account under subdivision (a) of this 13 section during any calendar quarter by the eligible news journalist 14 employer shall not exceed twelve thousand five hundred dollars. Credit 15 is allowed for individuals paid in excess of this amount but shall be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02644-10-4S. 625--C 2 1 limited to a portion of the wages paid up to twelve thousand five 2 hundred dollars per quarter. 3 (2) The provisions of this section shall only apply to the first four 4 calendar quarters beginning after the effective date of this section. 5 (3) This section shall not apply with respect to any eligible news 6 journalist employer for any calendar quarter if such employer elects (at 7 such time and in such manner as the commissioner may prescribe) not to 8 have this section apply. 9 (4) Any wages taken into account in determining the credit allowed 10 under this section shall not be taken into account for purposes of 11 determining any other credit allowed under this chapter. 12 (5) The credit allowable under this section shall be allowable for a 13 period of one year from the effective date of this section. No credit 14 shall be allowed under this section for any amount paid or incurred by 15 the taxpayer in a taxable year commencing after the close of the one- 16 year period. No credit shall be allowed under this section for any 17 portion of an amount paid or incurred by the taxpayer in a taxable year 18 for any wages that extend beyond the close of the one-year period begin- 19 ning on the effective date of this section. 20 (c) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall 21 have the following meanings: 22 (1) "Applicable percentage" means fifty percent. 23 (2) (A) "Eligible news journalist employer" means, with respect to any 24 calendar quarter, any employer which: (i) is a qualifying publication or 25 a qualifying broadcast station; (ii) employs news journalists; and (iii) 26 employs a total of one hundred employees or fewer. 27 (B) All persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or 28 (b) of section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or subsection 29 (m) or (o) of section 414 of such Code, shall be treated as one employer 30 for purposes of this paragraph; provided that each FCC licensed broad- 31 cast station or qualifying publication which serves a separate market 32 shall be treated as a separate and single news journalist employer for 33 the purposes of this tax credit. 34 (3) (A) "Qualifying broadcast station" means, with respect to any 35 calendar quarter, any employer which: 36 (i) provides local community news, which is broadcast during the 37 calendar quarter and has been broadcast during each of the four calendar 38 quarters preceding such calendar quarter; 39 (ii) owns or operates a broadcast station, as defined by section three 40 of the federal communications act of 1934; 41 (iii) is not a disqualified organization; 42 (iv) did not derive more than fifty percent of its gross receipts for 43 such calendar quarter from disqualified organizations; and 44 (v) discloses its ownership to the public at such times and in such 45 manner as identified by the commissioner. 46 (B) For purposes of this paragraph each FCC licensed broadcast station 47 serving a separate market shall be treated as a separate and single news 48 journalist employer. 49 (4) "News journalist" means, with respect to any eligible news jour- 50 nalist for any calendar quarter, any full time employee who (A) provides 51 qualified services for an average of not less than thirty hours per week 52 for each week during which such employee is employed by the eligible 53 news journalist employer during the calendar quarter, and (B) resides 54 within the designated broadcast market or fifty miles of the local 55 community with respect to the qualifying publication or qualifyingS. 625--C 3 1 broadcast station with respect to which the qualified services are 2 provided. 3 (5) "Qualified services" means services which consist of gathering, 4 preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, photo- 5 graphing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, presenting or 6 publishing original news for dissemination to the local community. 7 (6) "Qualifying publication" means, with respect to any calendar quar- 8 ter, any print or digital publication: 9 (A) which provides local community news, which is published during the 10 calendar quarter and has been published during each of the four calendar 11 quarters preceding such calendar quarter; 12 (B) is not a disqualified organization; 13 (C) did not derive more than fifty percent of its gross receipts for 14 such calendar quarter from disqualified organizations; 15 (D) which is covered by media liability insurance for such calendar 16 quarter; and 17 (E) which publishes the owner's name pursuant to section three hundred 18 thirty of the general business law, provided that a digital publication 19 shall publish the information required by such section on the website of 20 such publication. 21 (7) (A) "Local community" means, with respect to any qualifying publi- 22 cation, a geographically contiguous area that does not exceed the bound- 23 aries of: 24 (i) the metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, as defined by 25 the federal Office of Management and Budget, in which the qualifying 26 publication is primarily distributed; 27 (ii) if such qualifying publication is not primarily distributed in a 28 metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, the county in which such 29 qualifying publication is primarily distributed; or 30 (iii) if such qualifying publication is not primarily distributed in a 31 metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area or a county, the state. 32 (B) A digital publication shall be considered to be primarily distrib- 33 uted in the area where such publication is intended to be primarily 34 consumed. 35 (8) "Disqualified organization" means: 36 (A) any organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the internal 37 revenue code and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such code; 38 (B) any organization described in section 527 of the internal revenue 39 code; or 40 (C) any organization that is controlled, directly or indirectly, by 41 one or more organizations described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this 42 paragraph. 43 (d) Maximum amount of credits. The maximum amount of tax credits 44 allowed under this section, subdivision sixty of section two hundred 45 ten-B and subsection (w) of section six hundred six of this chapter in 46 any calendar year shall be two hundred thousand dollars per eligible 47 news journalist employer. The maximum amount of tax credits allowed 48 under this section, subdivision sixty of section two hundred ten-B and 49 subsection (w) of section six hundred six of this chapter for all 50 taxpayers in the state is twenty million dollars. 51 (e) Administration. The commissioner shall issue such forms, 52 instructions, regulations, and guidance as are necessary: 53 (1) to allow the advance payment of the credit under subdivision (a) 54 of this section, subject to the limitations provided in this section, 55 based on such information as the commissioner shall require;S. 625--C 4 1 (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such advance payment with the 2 amount advanced at the time of filing the return of tax for the applica- 3 ble calendar quarter or taxable year; and 4 (3) with respect to the application of the credit under subdivision 5 (a) of this section to third-party payors (including professional 6 employer organizations, certified professional employer organizations, 7 or agents under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), 8 including regulations or guidance allowing such payors to submit 9 documentation necessary to substantiate the eligible employer status of 10 employers that use such payors. 11 (f) Treatment of deposits. The commissioner shall waive any penalty 12 under this chapter for any failure to make a deposit of any applicable 13 employment taxes if the commissioner determines that such failure was 14 due to the reasonable anticipation of the credit allowed under this 15 section. 16 (g) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in 17 this section, see the following provisions of this chapter: 18 (1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 60. 19 (2) article 22: section 606: subsections (i) and (w). 20 § 3. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 21 sion 60 to read as follows: 22 60. Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (a) Allowance of 23 credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section twenty-four-d of 24 this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in 25 such section against the tax imposed by this article. 26 (b) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision 27 for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to less 28 than the amount prescribed in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of 29 section two hundred ten of this article; provided, however, that if the 30 amount of the credit allowable under this subdivision for any taxable 31 year reduces the tax to such amount or if the taxpayer otherwise pays 32 tax based on the fixed dollar minimum amount, the excess shall be treat- 33 ed as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in accordance 34 with the provisions of section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter; 35 and provided, further, that the provisions of subsection (c) of section 36 one thousand eighty-eight of this chapter notwithstanding, no interest 37 shall be paid thereon. 38 § 4. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 39 (w) to read as follows: 40 (w) Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (1) Allowance of 41 credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section twenty-four-d of 42 this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in 43 such section against the tax imposed by this article. 44 (2) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowable under 45 this subsection for any taxable year exceeds the taxpayer's tax for such 46 year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credit- 47 ed or refunded as provided in section six hundred eighty-six of this 48 article; provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon. 49 § 5. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subsection (i) of section 606 50 of the tax law is amended by adding a new clause (li) to read as 51 follows: 52 (li) Payroll credit for Amount of credit for the sum of 53 compensation of journalists payroll credit for compensation 54 under subsection (w) of journalists under subdivision 55 sixty of section 56 two hundred ten-BS. 625--C 5 1 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to tax 2 years commencing on and after January 1, 2024; provided that: 3 (a) this act shall expire and be deemed repealed January 1, 2029; and 4 (b) the expiration and repeal of this act shall not affect the proc- 5 essing or allowance of any tax credit provided in this act for any tax 6 year commencing prior to January 1, 2029. 7 Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any 8 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its 9 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such 10 date.