State House News Service
March 11, 2010
Legislation scaling back the state’s tax sweeteners for the film industry received a thumbs-down today from the Revenue Committee, seriously complicating the bill’s path to passage.
The Revenue Committee voted unanimously, with panel chair Jay Kaufman, and Reps. Peisch, Greene, Erlich, Driscoll, Cantwell, Arciero, and Barrows voting “ought not to pass.”
Senate chair Benjamin Downing voted to hold for further consideration. The bill scaling back the incentives to earlier levels was the subject of a crowded hearing in Gardner Auditorium last week, where critics argued it amounted to a giveaway for Hollywood, and unsound fiscal policy. Backers of the program said it provided sorely needed jobs in the state.
Joe Maiella, president of the Mass. Production Coalition, applauded the vote Thursday, saying in a statement, “The film industry is outperforming virtually every other sector of the Massachusetts economy during the worst economic recession in living memory. This kind of performance should be protected, not damaged.”