To protect local media, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6913 To protect local media, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2020 Mr. RYAN (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mrs. LURIA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CART- WRIGHT, Mr. SOTO, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CRIST, Mr. EVANS, Mr. COHEN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, Small Business, Energy and Commerce, and Edu- cation and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To protect local media, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. REQUIREMENT TO ADVERTISE WITH LOCAL 3 MEDIA. 4 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency shall 6 expend with local media— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6913 IH (A) during the period that begins on the 1 date of the enactment of this section and ends 2 on December 31, 2020, 50 percent of the funds 3 obligated by the agency for advertising activities 4 and underwriting activities during such period; 5 and 6 (B) during any period that begins on or 7 after January 1, 2021, 25 percent of the funds 8 obligated by the agency for advertising activities 9 and underwriting activities during the applica- 10 ble period. 11 (2) LIMITATION.—Of the funds required to be 12 expended under paragraph (1), at least 45 percent 13 of such funds shall be expended equally between 14 newspapers, television stations, and radio stations 15 that are local media. 16 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each executive agency shall— 17 (1) expend the funds required to be expended 18 under subsection (a) in a nonpartisan and nonideo- 19 logical manner; and 20 (2) ensure that the funds are expended with 21 local media on a geographically equitable basis. 22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 23 after the date of the enactment of this section, and each 24 year thereafter, an executive agency shall submit a report 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6913 IH to Congress (and any committee of jurisdiction) on, with 1 respect to the prior year, funds expended by the agency 2 for advertising activities and underwriting activities, in- 3 cluding funds expended by the agency with local media 4 in accordance with subsection (a). 5 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 7 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 8 102 of title 31, United States Code. 9 (2) PUBLIC BROADCAST STATION.—The term 10 ‘‘public broadcast station’’ has the meaning given 11 the term under section 397 of the Communications 12 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397). 13 (3) UNDERWRITING ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘un- 14 derwriting activity’’ means a payment by an execu- 15 tive agency to a public broadcast station, or to sup- 16 port the production of programming to be broadcast 17 on such a station, in exchange for or with the expec- 18 tation of an announcement on the station receiving 19 such payment or a station broadcasting such pro- 20 gramming that acknowledges the financial support 21 by such agency of such station or programming. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6913 IH SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 1 (a) PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM.—Section 2 7(a)(36)(D)(iv) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 3 636(a)(36)(D)(iv)) is amended— 4 (1) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 5 end; 6 (2) in subclause (III), by striking the period at 7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 9 clause: 10 ‘‘(IV) any business concern with 11 not more than 500 employees that, as 12 of the date on which the covered loan 13 is disbursed, is assigned a North 14 American Industry Classification Sys- 15 tem code of 511110, 515111, 515112, 16 or 519130.’’. 17 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Commission shall supply local 18 media who qualify for a loan under section 7(a)(36) of 19 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)), or any 20 other loan administered by the Small Business Adminis- 21 tration, any information as may be necessary to connect 22 such local media with the Small Business Administration. 23 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY JOBS FOR JOURNALISM TAX CREDIT. 24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer which 25 is a qualified local media company, there shall be allowed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6913 IH as a credit against the tax imposed by section 3111(a) 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for each calendar 2 quarter an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified 3 first-year newsroom wages paid by such employer with re- 4 spect to such calendar quarter. 5 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 6 (1) DOLLAR LIMITATION PER EMPLOYEE.—The 7 aggregate credits allowed under subsection (a) (for 8 all calendar quarters) shall not exceed $20,000 with 9 respect to any employee. 10 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT 11 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 12 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 13 tax imposed by section 3111(a) of such Code for 14 such calendar quarter (reduced by any other credits 15 enacted before the date of the enactment of this Act 16 which are allowed against such tax for such quarter) 17 on the wages paid with respect to the employment 18 of all employees of the employer. 19 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the 21 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita- 22 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter, 23 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6913 IH that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 1 and 6413(b) of such Code. 2 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur- 3 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 4 Code, any amounts due to an employer under 5 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 6 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 7 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section. 8 (c) QUALIFIED FIRST-YEAR WAGES.—For purposes 9 of this section, the term ‘‘qualified first-year wages’’ 10 means, with respect to any employee, wages (as defined 11 in section 51(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 12 without regard to paragraph (4) thereof) attributable to 13 service rendered as such an employee during the 1-year 14 period beginning with the day the individual begins work 15 for the employer, but only if such wages are for services 16 provided in the news division of such employer, including 17 service as a reporter, staff writer, news producer, or engi- 18 neer. 19 (d) QUALIFIED LOCAL MEDIA COMPANY.—For pur- 20 poses of this section, the term ‘‘qualified local media com- 21 pany’’ means any employer which is local media. 22 (e) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS INELIGIBLE.— 23 (1) RELATED INDIVIDUALS.—Rules similar to 24 the rules of section 51(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6913 IH Code of 1986 shall apply for purposes of this sec- 1 tion. 2 (2) NONQUALIFYING REHIRES.—No wages shall 3 be taken into account under subsection (a) with re- 4 spect to any employee if such individual had been 5 employed by the employer at any time prior to the 6 hiring date of such employee and after the date of 7 the introduction of this Act. 8 (f) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN OTHER RULES.—Ex- 9 cept as otherwise provided by the Secretary of the Treas- 10 ury (or the Secretary’s delegate), rules similar to the rules 11 of subsections (j) and (k) of section 51 and section 52 12 shall apply for purposes of this section. 13 (g) SPECIAL RULES.— 14 (1) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—For pur- 15 poses of chapter 1 of such Code, the gross income 16 of the employer, for the taxable year which includes 17 the last day of any calendar quarter with respect to 18 which a credit is allowed under this section, shall be 19 increased by the amount of such credit. Any wages 20 taken into account in determining the credit allowed 21 under this section shall not be taken into account for 22 purposes of determining any other credit allowed 23 against any tax imposed under the Internal Revenue 24 Code of 1986. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6913 IH (2) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.— 1 This section shall not apply with respect to any em- 2 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer 3 elects (at such time and in such manner as the Sec- 4 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 5 may prescribe) not to have this section apply. 6 (3) CERTAIN TERMS.—Any term used in this 7 section which is also used in chapter 21 of such 8 Code (and is not otherwise defined for purposes of 9 this section) shall have the same meaning as when 10 used in such chapter. 11 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 12 (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall prescribe such regula- 13 tions or other guidance as may be necessary to carry out 14 the purposes of this section, including— 15 (1) regulations or other guidance to prevent the 16 avoidance of the purposes of the limitations under 17 this section; 18 (2) regulations or other guidance to minimize 19 compliance and record-keeping burdens under this 20 section; 21 (3) regulations or other guidance providing for 22 waiver of penalties for failure to deposit amounts in 23 anticipation of the allowance of the credit allowed 24 under this section; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6913 IH (4) regulations or other guidance for recap- 1 turing the benefit of credits determined under this 2 section in cases where there is a subsequent adjust- 3 ment to the credit determined under subsection (a). 4 (i) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 5 apply only to wages paid during calendar quarters ending 6 after the date of the enactment of this Act and beginning 7 before January 1, 2022. 8 (j) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR- 9 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap- 10 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur- 11 ance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance 12 Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social 13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduc- 14 tion in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section 15 (without regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated 16 by the preceding sentence shall be transferred from the 17 general fund at such times and in such manner as to rep- 18 licate to the extent possible the transfers which would have 19 occurred to such Trust Fund had this section not been 20 enacted. 21 SEC. 4. PUBLICATION OF WRITTEN NEWS ARTICLES AS TAX- 22 EXEMPT PURPOSE. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 24 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘or for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6913 IH the publication (including electronic publication) of writ- 1 ten news articles by an independent or community-based 2 written news and electronic publication,’’ after ‘‘animals,’’. 3 (b) INCOME FROM ADVERTISING NOT UNRELATED 4 BUSINESS TAXABLE INCOME.—Section 512(a) of the In- 5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 6 end the following new paragraph: 7 ‘‘(8) SPECIAL RULE APPLICABLE TO NEWS OR- 8 GANIZATIONS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 501(C)(3).—In 9 the case of an independent or community-based writ- 10 ten news and electronic publication which is de- 11 scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax 12 under section 501(a), the term ‘unrelated business 13 taxable income’ does not include any amount attrib- 14 utable to payments for advertisements in news publi- 15 cations.’’. 16 (c) EXPEDITED APPLICATION.—Section 508 of the 17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 18 the end the following new subsection: 19 ‘‘(g) TIMING FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS BY 20 NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an independent 21 or community-based written news and electronic publica- 22 tion which is described in section 501(c)(3), the Secretary 23 shall approve or deny such organization for recognition of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6913 IH 501(c)(3) status not later than the date that is 12 months 1 after notice is given under subsection (a).’’. 2 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall apply with respect to taxable years begin- 4 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE READY TO 6 LEARN PROGRAM. 7 It is the sense of Congress that the Corporation for 8 Public Broadcasting should, to the extent possible under 9 the agreement entered by the Corporation for Public 10 Broadcasting and the Department of Education under sec- 11 tion 4643 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7293), provide programming to 13 preschool, elementary, and secondary school children that 14 promotes digital literacy during the period in which such 15 children are unable to attend school due to the COVID– 16 19 pandemic. 17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 20 means the Federal Communications Commission. 21 (2) LOCAL MEDIA.—The term ‘‘local media’’ 22 means a media vehicle (such as a newspaper, elec- 23 tronic publication, radio station, or television sta- 24 tion) that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO [Text truncated for display. 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