WA HB2579

Imposes a $0.20 per month tax on radio access lines, VoIP service lines, and switched access lines to fund public media and digital equity programs in Washington State

Creates a public media broadcaster program administered by the Department of Commerce to provide annual grants to eligible noncommercial, nonprofit radio and television organizations based in the state for at least seven years

Allocates 85% of broadcaster grants to organizations with budgets over $1,000,000 (up to $1,500,000 or 8% of operating expenses), and 15% to smaller broadcasters serving rural or hyper-local audiences ($5,000 minimum)

Establishes a digital equity program funding resource coordinators and multimedia trainers to support broadband adoption, online safety education, and community media capacity at libraries, schools, health clinics, and other anchor institutions

Distributes tax revenue with 80% to the public media program, 20% to digital equity, and up to 3% retained for administration; prohibits cities and counties from imposing similar per-line taxes for these purposes