California Bill Aiming To Attract Film & TV Production From Georgia Paused In Assembly
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A bill in the California legislature designed to attract productions from states like Georgia that have passed restrictive abortion laws has been paused in the state Assembly.
The legislation, put forth by Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) and known as the Share Our Values Film Tax Credit, was held by Rivas on Friday in the fiscal Senate Appropriations Committee. It looked to allocate $50 million per year for five years “for the relocation of film production to California from states seeking to restrict women’s reproductive rights.”
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“As the nation grapples with callous policies to dismantle a woman’s access to reproductive health, AB 1442 confirms California stands with women,” Rivas said. “This bill brought a necessary and important discussion on women’s rights back to the forefront. At the request of industry stakeholders, I have decided to hold AB 1442 to work on this proposal over the interim break in order to give stakeholders ample ability to have discussions and the chance to stand with women.”
In its current form, AB 1442 would allocate money to film and TV productions that “relocated to California from a state that has pending legislation or existing law that prohibits access to, criminalizes the provision of, or otherwise restricts a woman’s access to abortion services after eight weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier or the qualified taxpayer chose to pay or incur qualified expenditures in California rather than in a state that has pending legislation or existing law that prohibits access to, criminalizes the provision of, or otherwise restricts a woman’s access to abortion services after eight weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier.”
Georgia in May joined several other states in passing so-called “heartbeat bills”; theirs is set to become state law in January and is currently begin contested in the courts. The restrictive laws have caused a storm in the film and TV industries, which utilize Georgia’s lucrative tax credits on production. According to the MPAA, Georgia is responsible for more than 92,100 film and TV production jobs and nearly $4.6 billion in total wages.
Georgia officials said that for the fiscal year ending June 30, the industry generated $2.7 billion in direct spending.
The California legislation, the subject of stern objections by some including the Los Angeles Times‘ editorial board, has been supported by the likes of the California Teamsters, California State Council of Laborers, IBEW Local 40, ICM Partners, National Women’s Political Caucus of California, Studio Transportation Teamsters Local 399, Studio Utility Employees Local 724 and OPCMIA Local 755.
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