Industry News :: Schwarzenegger-Backed Movie Bill Faces GOP Resistance

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California's legendary "silver screen" industry could soon be showing a little more tarnish.

A bill championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger which would offer financial incentives to keep film productions from leaving California has met with resistance from Republican lawmakers as the legislative session winds to a close.

Assembly Bill 77, which was authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, would offer refundable tax credits of up to $3 million per film to productions that shoot in California.

Supporters of the bill point to California Film Commission figures showing that a single $70 million feature film generates more than $10 million in tax revenue and provides an average of 141 full-time jobs over a one-year period.

Legislative analysts calculate the program would end up costing the state an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue over ten years.

Schwarzenegger staffers said the governor is a staunch supporter of the bill, but the one-time movie star has not offered any public statements endorsing the legislation.

Meanwhile, several members of the governor's own party oppose the bill, warning the incentives amount to offering preferential treatment to the state's film industry over other segments of California's business community.

Last month, a report by the public employee advocacy group California Tax Reform Association blasted the bill, claiming the legislation offers inadequate oversight of accounting practices, and could result in abuse of the incentives.

Despite the impending end of the California legislative session, Nunez remains optimistic the legislation will be enacted in some form. He said he hoped to garner support from legislative leaders to include proposed movie tax credits in the state budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.