Editor’s note: Deadline reports, “Under the text of the [Build Back Better] bill released Wednesday, per Punchbowl News, employers would get a credit against employment taxes for local news journalists. It would provide a credit up to $25,000 to defray employment taxes in the first year, and $15,000 in the next four years, for each employee. That would cover 50% of compensation up to $50,000 in the first year and 30% in the next four years.” The Heritage Foundation’s David Ditch provides more analysis:
The first version of the spending package contained a tax perk for “local news journalism” designed to prop up local newspapers and broadcasters. These tax credits are refundable, meaning that if a news outlet is unprofitable due to a lack of local interest, taxpayers will cut it a check.
While this handout was removed in the second version of the bill, the latest version brings it back and even expands it. Now, not only can a media organization get a larger amount of tax credits, but eligibility was expanded to include companies of up to 1,500 employees.
As corporate welfare, this is bad enough to begin with. Worse, because the handout from taxpayers is being delivered through partisan legislation, it will encourage even more partisanship in the media.
This is adapted from “What’s in Third Version of Biden’s Big Government Spending Bill.” Check it out to learn more about what’s in the massive spending bill.
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