BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1131
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1131 (Calderon)
As Amended April 27, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :24-7
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS 5-3
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|Ayes:|Davis, Blumenfield, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Gatto, | | |
| |Monning | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Silva, Gaines, Audra | | |
| |Strickland | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Provides that, notwithstanding any other law, the
state shall not expend any state funds for the purpose of
filming or producing commercials or other filmed materials, for
commercial use, outside of the state.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes a motion picture production tax credit and
requires the California Film Commission (CFC) to administer a
motion picture production tax credit allocation and
certification program.
2)Contains the California Tourism Marketing Act (CTMA) and
creates the California Division of Tourism in the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency (BTHA) to promote travel and
tourism to and within California.
The CTMA further establishes the California Travel and Tourism
Commission (CTTC), a separate, independent, non-profit
corporation, and authorizes the CTTC to levy assessments on
specified businesses which benefit from travel and tourism
spending, according to referendum of the assessed businesses
for the purpose of producing a variety of marketing
activities, including: advertising; visitor publications; and
cooperative programs.
SB 1131
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3)Contains The California Marketing Act, the purpose of which
is, in part, to enable producers of this state, with the aid
of the state, to correlate more effectively the marketing of
their commodities with market demands for those commodities.
These marketing efforts are funded by the levying and
collection of assessments.
4)Contains a public and private collaboration known as the "Buy
California Program." The purposes of the program are to
encourage consumer nutritional and food awareness and to
foster purchases of high-quality California agricultural
products.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to information provided by the author's
office, California's motion picture industry is an essential
source of economic activity, tax revenue, jobs and tourism for
the state. Specifically, film, television and commercial
production activities contribute more than $40 billion to
California's economy and directly employ almost 250,000 workers.
Other states and countries are working to build up their
long-term infrastructure with stage construction and post
production facilities. For example, New Mexico, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, and Toronto are building large multi-studio
facilities. The author's office points out that between 2001
and 2006 the City of San Francisco witnessed a loss of
production spending totaling $123,403,000 and a loss of
$8,417,000 in state and local tax revenues. During this time
frame, San Francisco film production employment dropped 43%. On
the other hand, production dollars spent in Louisiana grew from
$3.5 million in 2002 to $400 million in 2007.
The recently enacted California Production Tax Incentive
Program, SB 15 X3 (Ron Calderon) Chapter 17, Statutes of 2009-10
Third Extraordinary Session, specifically targets productions
that are most likely to leave the state due to incentives being
offered by other states and countries. The author's office
asserts that SB 1131 is an important next step - "California has
invested millions of dollars to ensure that we make every effort
to retain production activity in California." The author's
SB 1131
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office emphasizes that "to allow California tax dollars to be
spent supporting production companies that have moved a project
out-of-state is simply unacceptable - SB 1131 is intended to
ensure that California does not make this mistake."
State Programs Which Appear to be Covered under SB 1131 : The
language of this bill would provide that, "notwithstanding any
other law, the state shall not expend any state funds for the
purpose of filming or producing commercials or other filmed
materials, for commercial use, outside of the state." While
this language may at first glance seem quite broad, this analyst
could only find three programs operating in the state which
clearly fall under its terms. They are the California Film Tax
Credit, California Tourism Marketing Act, and the Department of
Food and Agriculture Buy California Campaign.
Conflicts with AB 1778 (Lieu) Need to be Addressed : AB 1778
(Lieu), provides that "any department, commission, office,
agency, or other administrative entity of the state that
produces, or contracts for the production of, a promotional
commercial for the state or a product of the state, and finances
that commercial in whole or in part with public funds, shall
require that commercial be filmed in this state." An exception
would be made for any agreement between a state entity and a
private entity to promote a California product.
Filming of promotional commercials, as covered by AB 1778, would
be considered a subset of the general prohibition of filming any
commercials (or other filmed materials) outside of California
contained in SB 1131. As such, the bills are in conflict.
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450
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