Bill > HB2579

This bill establishes new programs and funding mechanisms to promote public media and digital equity across Washington State, recognizing the importance of noncommercial media for informing, educating, and connecting communities, and the need for all residents to have safe and effective internet access. The bill creates a public media broadcaster program, administered by the state department, which will award funds annually to eligible non-profit, non-commercial, and non-religious organizations that have a proven track record of serving the public with content related to public safety, arts, education, and community events, with specific allocations for larger and smaller broadcasters, including those serving rural areas. Additionally, a digital equity program will be established to fund community anchor institutions like schools and libraries, as well as other organizations, to create resource coordinators and multimedia trainers who will help build digital skills, promote online safety, and increase access to information and resources in a multilingual and culturally responsive manner. To fund these initiatives, a new tax of 20 cents per month will be imposed on radio access lines, interconnected voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service lines, and switched access lines, with the collected revenue deposited into a dedicated public media broadcaster and digital equity account, of which 80% will go to public media and 20% to digital equity programs, after administrative costs. The bill also clarifies that cities and counties cannot impose their own similar taxes for these purposes.

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https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2579&Year=2025&Initiative=false