House Bill 2122 would reduce the business and occupation tax for people in the business of "printing or publishing a newspaper" to the same rate paid by The Boeing Co., Weyerhaueser and Microsoft, according to industry lobbyist Roland Thompson of Allied Daily Newspapers.

That's a 43 percent cut from where it is now. The reduction would take effect July 1 and apparently would last indefinitely. The summary of testimony before the House Finance Committee indicated newspapers said they needed the tax break until about 2015.

The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, would cost the state about $3 million to $5 million in lower tax collections over the 2009-11 biennium, Thompson said. (And save newspapers that amount, collectively.)

There is no fiscal note yet to show a more precise impact on state revenues.

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I have to confess I left the committee hearing a couple weeks back when my boss, Publisher David Zeeck, was testifying. I always feel a tad uncomfortable writing about stuff our newspaper is involved in. But hey, this is news. I'll put this item on the blog but you'll probably see an Associated Press story in the print edition on Thursday.

I just stuck around in the hearing long enough to make sure The News Tribune wasn't going out of business (that was never really in doubt) like so many other newspapers, including the Seattle P.I. up north. (They got a bit of a reprieve yesterday, but a lot of my former colleagues like Angela Galloway, Hector Castro -- both TNT alums -- are gone.

The House defeated a proposed amendment by Rep. Ed Orcutt, top Republican on the House Finance Committee, that would have given the tax break only to newspapers that publish once a week, or once or twice a month, not to the dailies. That would have lessened the impact on the state coffers, but I don't know how much yet.

The House passed the bill Tuesday night on that 91-5 vote and sent it to the Senate.