LOS ANGELES—California Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed the Community NEWS Act, a bill incentivizing newsrooms to hire and retain journalists.
The bill, supported by the SAG-AFTRA union, offers qualified news organizations a refundable employment tax credit of $20,000 for each of the first five full-time journalists hired and $15,000 for each additional full-time journalist hired, in addition to $7,500 for part-time journalists and a stackable $15,000 credit for new hires.
“Governor Newsom’s signing of the Community NEWS Act is a huge win for the quality journalism needed to build a healthy, informed society,” said SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin. “Thank you Gov. Newsom, Assemblymember Chris Ward and AB 2222’s allies in the California Legislature for making the policy changes necessary to ensure continued access to the news and information that keeps our democracy thriving.”
Passage comes more than a year after Congress approved the Rescissions Act of 2025, which eliminated $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a longstanding source of grants for local PBS and NPR affiliates. These cuts have prompted staffing reductions and programming changes at stations across the country, leaving many to explore alternative funding strategies.
According to the 2026 Local Journalist Index, local journalist employment has fallen more than 80% since 2002.
Supporters of the act have argued that tax credits could help slow the decline of local news coverage by making it more economically viable for outlets of all sizes to employ professional reporters and storytellers. Vermont, Illinois, New York and New Mexico have incentivized support for local news.
More information is available on Newsom’s website and the SAG-AFTRA website.
