California legislators have moved forward on extending the California Film and Television production tax credit for five years beyond its 2020 expiration.
The State Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 951 by a 37-0 vote on Thursday. The legislation continues the current annual allocation of $330 million in tax credits and extends the sunset of the program from 2020 to 2025. The State Assembly passed similar legislation, Assembly Bill 1734, a week ago.
The program, which allocates as much as 25% of the budget to credits, was more than tripled in size in 2014 to compete effectively with incentives in New York and Georgia. The program is overseen by the California Film Commission, which selects the TV and movie projects to qualify partly based on the number of jobs created. It’s expected that the legislature will reach agreement on a final bill in the late summer before sending it to Gov. Jerry Brown.
