LA FILM CREDITS EXTENDED? Louisiana could maintain its claim to Hollywood South after a House tax committee advanced a bill that would extend the state's lucrative film tax credit program for another decade. According to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Republican Speaker Clay Schexnayder's House Bill 562 would extend the annual $180 million movie tax credit through 2035. It had been set to expire in 2025.
But a similar Senate bill to extend the credits in 2021 failed in the full House, where critics said the program misplaces Louisiana's priorities and leaves out many regions of the state. At the time, the state had spent about $2 billion dollars on film tax credits since the program’s inception in 2012. During the committee hearing, Speaker Schexnayder said this bill is different this time around.
“We fought and fought and fought on different pieces of this bill back then and trying to get it better. And I think every year we’ve gotten to a better spot. I think this one right here is even one step closer to being where we actually need to be,” Shexnayder said.
The industry released a poll it commissioned from JMC Analytics earlier this month that showed 66% of those surveyed support the film tax credit program with 14% opposing the credits and 20% undecided.
Officials from the state's economic development department said the overall economic impact outside of the direct return of taxes to the state is $6 for every $1 spent by the productions. They estimate the industry supports about 10,000 jobs.
