Illinois § 40-5

§ 40-5.

Definitions. As used in this Act: "Award cycle" means the 4 reporting periods for which the employer is awarded a credit under Section 40-10. "Comparable rate" has the meaning given to that term by the Federal Communications Commission in its campaign advertising rate rules. "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. "Independently owned" means, as applied to a local news organization, that: (1) the local news organization is not a publicly traded entity and no more than 5% of the beneficial ownership of the local news organization is owned, directly or indirectly, by a publicly traded entity; and (2) the local news organization is not a subsidiary. "Local news organization" means an entity that: (1) engages professionals to create, edit, produce, and distribute original content concerning matters of public interest through reporting activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, or analyzing documents or other information; (2) has at least one employee who meets all of the following criteria: (A) the employee is employed by the entity on a full-time basis for at least 30 hours a week; (B) the employee's job duties for the entity consist primarily of providing coverage of Illinois or local Illinois community news as described in paragraph (C); (C) the employee gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, writes, edits, reports, or publishes original local or State community news for dissemination to the local or State community; and (D) the employee lives within 50 miles of the coverage area; (3) in the case of a print publication, has published at least one print publication per month over the previous 12 months and either (i) holds a valid United States Postal Service periodical permit or (ii) has at least 25% of its content dedicated to local news; (4) in the case of a digital-only entity, has published one piece about the community per week over the previous 12 months and has at least 33% of its digital audience in Illinois, averaged over a 12-month period; (5) in the case of a hybrid entity that has both print and digital outlets, meets the requirements in either paragraph (3) or (4) of this definition; (6) has disclosed in its print publication or on its website its beneficial ownership or, in the case of a not-for-profit entity, its board of directors; (7) in the case of an entity that maintains tax status under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, has declared the coverage of local or State news as the stated mission in its filings with the Internal Revenue Service; (8) has not received any payments of more than 50% of its gross receipts for the previous year from political action committees or other entities described in Section 527 of the federal Internal Revenue Code or from an organization that maintains Section 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6) status under the federal Internal Revenue Code, unless those payments are for political advertising during the lowest unit windows and using comparable rates; and (9) has not received more than 30% of its revenue from the previous taxable year from political advertisements during lowest unit windows. "Local news organization" does not include an organization that received more than $100,000 from organizations described in paragraph (8) during the taxable year or any preceding taxable year. "Lowest unit window" has the meaning given to that term by the Federal Communications Commission in its campaign advertising rate rules. "New journalism position" means an employment position that results in a net increase in qualified journalists employed by the local news organization from January 1 of the preceding calendar year compared to January 1 of the calendar year in which a credit under this Act is sought. "Private fund" means a corporation that: (1) would be considered an investment company under Section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. 80a-3, but for the application of paragraph (1) or (7) of subsection (c) of that Section; (2) is not a venture capital fund, as defined in Section 275.203(l)-1 of Title 17 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the effective date of this Act; and (3) is not an institution selected under Section 107 of the federal Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994. "Qualified journalist" means a person who: (1) is employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week; and (2) is responsible for gathering, developing, preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, designing, presenting, distributing, or publishing original news or information that concerns local matters of public interest. "Reporting period" means the quarter for which a return is required to be filed under Article 7 of the Illinois Income Tax Act. (Source: P.A. 103-592, eff. 6-7-24; 104-417, eff. 8-15-25.)