New York Democrats pass ‘welfare for journalists’ credit program

This week, New York lawmakers passed their 2025 budget, which included $90 million worth of payroll tax credits to help support the declining local news organizations.  

According to Axios, the budget bill creates $30 million a year in tax credits by allowing eligible news outlets to receive a refundable tax credit against 50 percent of the first $50,000 of a journalist's salary. 

The state designated $13 million for outlets with more than 100 employees and $13 million for outlets with less than 100 employees, and no outlet will be able to receive more than $300,000 in credits. 

In response to the tax credits, Newsmax host Tom Basile wrote in the Washington Times, "Corporate welfare won’t change that dynamic."  

He added, "What it will do is advance the death of journalistic independence at the hands of left-wing Democrats who seek to control the public discourse at every turn." 

"Does anyone really think that a subsidized paper would be as aggressive in countering runaway taxation, spending, radical social engineering, assaults on local zoning, sanctuary status, cash payouts to illegals, ‘woke’ education, tyrannical public unions, soft-on-crime district attorneys, and others of the most controversial policies pushed by states like New York could all get even more of a pass?" Basile asked. 

He pointed to NPR, which has "been subsidized by taxpayers for decades," to show that when you are guaranteed government assistance, "you become an appendage of the state." He noted that NPR's "ideological drift has been dramatic." 

As more Americans turn away from corporate media, news organizations have had to lay off hundreds of employees to stay afloat. Several states around the country have attempted to pass bills to help the struggling organizations. 

This month, Google began preparations for the potential passage of the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) which would force search engines to pay for links to local news articles. In response, Google began blocking links for some California news websites for some California users.