$122M Google Tax failed to pass (SB 686)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

After a lengthy debate on SB 686 B, which is a $122 million tax on Google and Facebook to fund Oregon media companies, the bill failed to pass the Senate.

SB 686-B is explained “Requires a covered platform to have an agreement in order to access the online content of a news provider. Creates a group for civic information to give grants” and would create “Oregon Civic Information Consortium. Directs the consortium to award grants for applicants that seek to improve civic information.”  The vote was very close, with a final tally of 15 nays and 14 ayes. The deciding vote came from Senator Jama (D), who initially voted aye but changed his vote to nay at the last second and “served notice of possible reconsideration.” Other notable democrats also voted no on the bill, which includes Senator Prozanski, Sollman, and Meek.

We previously explained the problems with this bill:

The bill is dangerous form of new taxes where government tells a private third-party to pay money directly to another private third-party.The tax-hungry proponents are pushing Senate Bill 686 as retribution for Google and Meta use of news highlight features and Artificial Intelligence which creates content by utilizing newsrooms’ copyrighted content. We agree 100% with the problem, which is why lawmakers should fix the problem with proper and strong copyright safeguards.Here is why Senate Bill 686 is very bad:

#1. Government is taxing one private company to reward another private company.

#2. Government is using a tax as a sledgehammer to politically punish people and not fix a single problem.

#3. Newspapers would be receiving government directed tax dollars. It would no longer be journalism. It further increases the government’s control of every aspect of our lives.

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The post $122M Google Tax failed to pass (SB 686) first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.