California bill would give tax breaks to productions that move out of Georgia over the heartbeat bill.
A new California bill will provide tax breaks to productions who choose to leave Georgia over the abortion ban. According to reports, a new bill will provide an additional tax credit for qualified TV and film productions that decide not to film in states with restrictive abortion laws.
A lawmaker in California has introduced a new bill, which will offer filmmaking incentives for movies and TV shows that want to leave Georgia or other states with similar restrictive abortion laws.
The bill is called Assembly Bill 1442. It will allow an additional tax credit starting in January 2020 for qualified productions who choose not to film in states that have “pending legislation or existing law that prohibits access to, criminalizes the provision of, or otherwise restricts a woman’s access to abortion services after 6 weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier.”
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow a motion picture credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, to be allocated by the California Film Commission on or after July 1, 2020, and before July 1, 2025, in an amount equal to 20% or 25% of qualified expenditures for the production of a qualified motion picture in this state, with additional credit amounts allowed, including for amounts equal to specified qualified expenditures and qualified wages relating to original photography outside the Los Angeles zone, as specified.
This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, would allow an additional tax credit, in an unspecified amount, to qualified taxpayers allocated the tax credits described above, that either relocated to California from, or chose not to pay or incur qualified expenditures for a qualified motion picture 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 6 weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier.
“There are actors and actresses that are refusing to be part of a production in one of those states,” California Democratic Assemblywoman Luz Rivas told CNBC. “I think it really puts pressure on the industry to reconsider whether they want to do business in those states.”
“A lot of the entertainment industry has relocated to Georgia because that state was very competitive in there was very competitive with their own state film tax credit,” Rivas told CNBC. “We’re trying to further incentivize the industry that currently is filming in states with these strict abortion bans to come and do business in California and share our values.”
Several actors and actresses have publicly opposed the bill. As Project Casting reported, director Reed Morano announced she was pulling her Amazon Studios series “The Power” over the “heartbeat” bill. Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams said they will continue shooting in Georgia but will donate 10% of their proceeds to fighting the abortion law. Netflix’s “Ozark” star and Hollywood producer Jason Bateman said he wants to move production of the Netflix series out of Georgia if the law goes into effect.
This news comes after, EUE Screen Gems studio in Atlanta said he recently lost a Netflix movie, which would have brought about 300 jobs.
“The passage of this law threatens to destroy a significant portion of 11 years of goodwill between Georgia and the national film and television production industry,” said Kris Bagwell, who also heads the Georgia Studio and Infrastructure Alliance. “Isn’t the first rule of job creation ‘Don’t shoot the jobs you already created?’ ”
The governor had initially planned to fly to Los Angeles to attend an event on Wednesday in Hollywood to persuade film executives, but he postponed last week following talks of protests and no-shows, according to the AJC. Instead, he privately toured the Georgia Film Academy and a nearby studio. He then released a statement explaining the benefits of an industry that “generates economic opportunity in every corner of our great state.”
What is the Heartbeat bill?
Gov. Brian Kemp signed Georgia’s “heartbeat bill” earlier this month. The law outlaws abortion as soon as a doctor can detect a fetal pulse, which is about six weeks after gestation. Alabama, Iowa, and Mississippi have also moved to restrict access to abortions.
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