H. R. 6913 — Bill to protect local media (May 15, 2020)
Summary
H. R. 6913 of the 116th Congress, a bill to protect local media, was introduced in the House of Representatives on May 15, 2020, by Ryan with named cosponsors and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, with additional referrals. Section 1 requires each executive agency to expend with local media 50 percent of the funds obligated for advertising and underwriting activities during the period ending on December 31, 2020, and 25 percent during any period beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Section 3 creates an Emergency Jobs for Journalism tax credit, limited to $20,000 with respect to any employee. Section 5 is a sense of Congress regarding the Ready to Learn Program.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
- Issuer
- Congressional materials
- Document type
- Bills Bills 116Hr6913Ih Bills 116Hr6913Ih
- Case
- Bills Bills 116Hr6913Ih Bills 116Hr6913Ih
Cite this document
“H. R. 6913 — Bill to protect local media (May 15, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/bills-bills-116hr6913ih-bills-116hr6913ih/
, SHA-256 f5ca6564cee05e30f8036e6eae4e5a21463904e82b406cfef36c09f6f9dec96c.Full text
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. BARRAGÁN, 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.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. REQUIREMENT TO ADVERTISE WITH LOCAL
4 MEDIA.
5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency shall
7 expend with local media—
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
2
1 (A) during the period that begins on the
2 date of the enactment of this section and ends
3 on December 31, 2020, 50 percent of the funds
4 obligated by the agency for advertising activities
5 and underwriting activities during such period;
6 and
7 (B) during any period that begins on or
8 after January 1, 2021, 25 percent of the funds
9 obligated by the agency for advertising activities
10 and underwriting activities during the applica-
11 ble period.
12 (2) LIMITATION.—Of the funds required to be
13 expended under paragraph (1), at least 45 percent
14 of such funds shall be expended equally between
15 newspapers, television stations, and radio stations
16 that are local media.
17 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each executive agency shall—
18 (1) expend the funds required to be expended
19 under subsection (a) in a nonpartisan and nonideo-
20 logical manner; and
21 (2) ensure that the funds are expended with
22 local media on a geographically equitable basis.
23 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days
24 after the date of the enactment of this section, and each
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 year thereafter, an executive agency shall submit a report
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
3
1 to Congress (and any committee of jurisdiction) on, with
2 respect to the prior year, funds expended by the agency
3 for advertising activities and underwriting activities, in-
4 cluding funds expended by the agency with local media
5 in accordance with subsection (a).
6 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
7 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive
8 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section
9 102 of title 31, United States Code.
10 (2) PUBLIC BROADCAST STATION.—The term
11 ‘‘public broadcast station’’ has the meaning given
12 the term under section 397 of the Communications
13 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397).
14 (3) UNDERWRITING ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘un-
15 derwriting activity’’ means a payment by an execu-
16 tive agency to a public broadcast station, or to sup-
17 port the production of programming to be broadcast
18 on such a station, in exchange for or with the expec-
19 tation of an announcement on the station receiving
20 such payment or a station broadcasting such pro-
21 gramming that acknowledges the financial support
22 by such agency of such station or programming.
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
4
1 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE.
2 (a) PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM.—Section
3 7(a)(36)(D)(iv) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
4 636(a)(36)(D)(iv)) is amended—
5 (1) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
6 end;
7 (2) in subclause (III), by striking the period at
8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
9 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
10 clause:
11 ‘‘(IV) any business concern with
12 not more than 500 employees that, as
13 of the date on which the covered loan
14 is disbursed, is assigned a North
15 American Industry Classification Sys-
16 tem code of 511110, 515111, 515112,
17 or 519130.’’.
18 (b) ASSISTANCE.—The Commission shall supply local
19 media who qualify for a loan under section 7(a)(36) of
20 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)), or any
21 other loan administered by the Small Business Adminis-
22 tration, any information as may be necessary to connect
23 such local media with the Small Business Administration.
24 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY JOBS FOR JOURNALISM TAX CREDIT.
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer which
26 is a qualified local media company, there shall be allowed
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
5
1 as a credit against the tax imposed by section 3111(a)
2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for each calendar
3 quarter an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified
4 first-year newsroom wages paid by such employer with re-
5 spect to such calendar quarter.
6 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.—
7 (1) DOLLAR LIMITATION PER EMPLOYEE.—The
8 aggregate credits allowed under subsection (a) (for
9 all calendar quarters) shall not exceed $20,000 with
10 respect to any employee.
11 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT
12 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with
13 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the
14 tax imposed by section 3111(a) of such Code for
15 such calendar quarter (reduced by any other credits
16 enacted before the date of the enactment of this Act
17 which are allowed against such tax for such quarter)
18 on the wages paid with respect to the employment
19 of all employees of the employer.
20 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.—
21 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the
22 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita-
23 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter,
24 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
6
1 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a)
2 and 6413(b) of such Code.
3 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur-
4 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States
5 Code, any amounts due to an employer under
6 this paragraph shall be treated in the same
7 manner as a refund due from a credit provision
8 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section.
9 (c) QUALIFIED FIRST-YEAR WAGES.—For purposes
10 of this section, the term ‘‘qualified first-year wages’’
11 means, with respect to any employee, wages (as defined
12 in section 51(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
13 without regard to paragraph (4) thereof) attributable to
14 service rendered as such an employee during the 1-year
15 period beginning with the day the individual begins work
16 for the employer, but only if such wages are for services
17 provided in the news division of such employer, including
18 service as a reporter, staff writer, news producer, or engi-
19 neer.
20 (d) QUALIFIED LOCAL MEDIA COMPANY.—For pur-
21 poses of this section, the term ‘‘qualified local media com-
22 pany’’ means any employer which is local media.
23 (e) CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS INELIGIBLE.—
24 (1) RELATED INDIVIDUALS.—Rules similar to
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 the rules of section 51(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
7
1 Code of 1986 shall apply for purposes of this sec-
2 tion.
3 (2) NONQUALIFYING REHIRES.—No wages shall
4 be taken into account under subsection (a) with re-
5 spect to any employee if such individual had been
6 employed by the employer at any time prior to the
7 hiring date of such employee and after the date of
8 the introduction of this Act.
9 (f) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN OTHER RULES.—Ex-
10 cept as otherwise provided by the Secretary of the Treas-
11 ury (or the Secretary’s delegate), rules similar to the rules
12 of subsections (j) and (k) of section 51 and section 52
13 shall apply for purposes of this section.
14 (g) SPECIAL RULES.—
15 (1) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—For pur-
16 poses of chapter 1 of such Code, the gross income
17 of the employer, for the taxable year which includes
18 the last day of any calendar quarter with respect to
19 which a credit is allowed under this section, shall be
20 increased by the amount of such credit. Any wages
21 taken into account in determining the credit allowed
22 under this section shall not be taken into account for
23 purposes of determining any other credit allowed
24 against any tax imposed under the Internal Revenue
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 Code of 1986.
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
8
1 (2) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.—
2 This section shall not apply with respect to any em-
3 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer
4 elects (at such time and in such manner as the Sec-
5 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate)
6 may prescribe) not to have this section apply.
7 (3) CERTAIN TERMS.—Any term used in this
8 section which is also used in chapter 21 of such
9 Code (and is not otherwise defined for purposes of
10 this section) shall have the same meaning as when
11 used in such chapter.
12 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury
13 (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall prescribe such regula-
14 tions or other guidance as may be necessary to carry out
15 the purposes of this section, including—
16 (1) regulations or other guidance to prevent the
17 avoidance of the purposes of the limitations under
18 this section;
19 (2) regulations or other guidance to minimize
20 compliance and record-keeping burdens under this
21 section;
22 (3) regulations or other guidance providing for
23 waiver of penalties for failure to deposit amounts in
24 anticipation of the allowance of the credit allowed
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 under this section; and
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
9
1 (4) regulations or other guidance for recap-
2 turing the benefit of credits determined under this
3 section in cases where there is a subsequent adjust-
4 ment to the credit determined under subsection (a).
5 (i) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall
6 apply only to wages paid during calendar quarters ending
7 after the date of the enactment of this Act and beginning
8 before January 1, 2022.
9 (j) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR-
10 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap-
11 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur-
12 ance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance
13 Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social
14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduc-
15 tion in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section
16 (without regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated
17 by the preceding sentence shall be transferred from the
18 general fund at such times and in such manner as to rep-
19 licate to the extent possible the transfers which would have
20 occurred to such Trust Fund had this section not been
21 enacted.
22 SEC. 4. PUBLICATION OF WRITTEN NEWS ARTICLES AS TAX-
23 EXEMPT PURPOSE.
24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘or for
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
10
1 the publication (including electronic publication) of writ-
2 ten news articles by an independent or community-based
3 written news and electronic publication,’’ after ‘‘animals,’’.
4 (b) INCOME FROM ADVERTISING NOT UNRELATED
5 BUSINESS TAXABLE INCOME.—Section 512(a) of the In-
6 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the
7 end the following new paragraph:
8 ‘‘(8) SPECIAL RULE APPLICABLE TO NEWS OR-
9 GANIZATIONS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 501(C)(3).—In
10 the case of an independent or community-based writ-
11 ten news and electronic publication which is de-
12 scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax
13 under section 501(a), the term ‘unrelated business
14 taxable income’ does not include any amount attrib-
15 utable to payments for advertisements in news publi-
16 cations.’’.
17 (c) EXPEDITED APPLICATION.—Section 508 of the
18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at
19 the end the following new subsection:
20 ‘‘(g) TIMING FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS BY
21 NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an independent
22 or community-based written news and electronic publica-
23 tion which is described in section 501(c)(3), the Secretary
24 shall approve or deny such organization for recognition of
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
11
1 501(c)(3) status not later than the date that is 12 months
2 after notice is given under subsection (a).’’.
3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
4 this section shall apply with respect to taxable years begin-
5 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
6 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE READY TO
7 LEARN PROGRAM.
8 It is the sense of Congress that the Corporation for
9 Public Broadcasting should, to the extent possible under
10 the agreement entered by the Corporation for Public
11 Broadcasting and the Department of Education under sec-
12 tion 4643 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7293), provide programming to
14 preschool, elementary, and secondary school children that
15 promotes digital literacy during the period in which such
16 children are unable to attend school due to the COVID–
17 19 pandemic.
18 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
19 In this Act:
20 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’
21 means the Federal Communications Commission.
22 (2) LOCAL MEDIA.—The term ‘‘local media’’
23 means a media vehicle (such as a newspaper, elec-
24 tronic publication, radio station, or television sta-
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
25 tion) that—
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
12
1 (A) primarily serves the communications
2 needs of regional or local communities; and
3 (B) focuses on localized issues and events.
Æ
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
•HR 6913 IH
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Jun 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6913.IH H6913
File and source
- File
- BILLS_bills-116hr6913ih_bills-116hr6913ih.pdf
- Size
- 248,296 bytes
- SHA-256
- f5ca6564cee05e30f8036e6eae4e5a21463904e82b406cfef36c09f6f9dec96c
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov