This bill creates a new state program and revenue mechanism to support local news. It establishes the Washington local news sustainability program in "the department" (agency not identified in the extracted text) to make grants to eligible news journalism providers and creates a local journalism investment account in the state treasury to receive revenues from a new local journalism investment surcharge. The new program, definitions, and account are added as new sections to chapter 43.330 RCW and a surcharge provision is added to chapter 82.04 RCW. The grant program is a new funding program with eligibility and reporting rules: grants must be used to support employment of news journalists covering civic affairs in underserved communities; eligible applicants are defined (eligible publishers and eligible broadcasters that disclose ownership), and news journalists are defined by hours and duties. Applicants generally must have employed at least three news journalists per quarter in Washington for the four prior calendar quarters (with an alternative two-journalist/8-quarter test and a stated exception for certain publishers). Grant amounts are to be proportional to journalist hours as reported to the Employment Security Department; applications, progress reports, and final reports follow forms and requirements set by the director, who may consult civic affairs and industry leaders and adopt rules to implement the program. The bill also creates a new surcharge on covered platforms and associated procedures. "Covered platforms" are social media platforms or search engines doing business in Washington that had at least $5,000,000 in gross income subject to the referenced tax in the immediately preceding calendar year, excluding organizations exempt under 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3). The surcharge is calculated as 1.22 percent of gross income subject to RCW 82.04.290(2), capped at $6,000,000 per covered platform annually, with quarterly reporting and payment due by the last day of the month following the reporting period; revenues must be deposited into the local journalism investment account. The department may audit or investigate to determine surcharge liability. Section 7 is noted to take effect January 1, 2026, and the surcharge is described as applying to business activities occurring on or after April 1, 2026. Some details are incomplete or unclear in the extracted text: the specific identity of "the department" is not given; a mid-definition fragment and some other definitions and provisions appear truncated; and full text of sections 1–6 and all of section 7 are not included in the provided facts.

If enacted, the state would create a grant program that funnels money to qualifying local publishers and broadcasters that disclose ownership and meet specified journalist staffing thresholds to support paying reporters who cover civic affairs in underserved communities; grant sizes would be tied to the hours those journalists report to the Employment Security Department and recipients must file progress and final reports. That money would come from a new surcharge on large social media platforms and search engines with at least $5 million in gross income in the prior year, beginning for business activity on or after April 1, 2026, charged at 1.22% of a defined tax base (capped at $6 million per platform per year), reported and paid quarterly, and deposited into a dedicated state account that can only be spent after the legislature appropriates it. The most affected parties are the covered platforms, which face a new recurring cost, quarterly reporting obligations, and potential audits to determine liability, and eligible local news organizations, which gain a likely new funding source but must meet employment and reporting rules to access grants and are subject to appropriation timing (so funding is not guaranteed). State agencies including the Employment Security Department and the Department of Revenue will share data and take on administration or enforcement tasks, while the specific agency named to run the program and some definition details for covered platforms are not specified in the provided text, leaving some implementation and timing questions unresolved.