By: Deuell, et al. S.B. No. 605
(In the Senate - Filed January 30, 2009; February 23, 2009,
read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
March 26, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; March 26, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 605 By: Deuell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to incentives for the film, television, video, and digital
interactive media production industries.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivisions (2) and (5), Section 485.021,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(2) "Moving image project" means a visual and sound
production, including a film, television program, national or
multistate commercial, educational or instructional video, or
digital interactive media production. The term does not include a
production that is obscene, as defined by Section 43.21, Penal
Code.
(5) "Underutilized and economically distressed
["Underused] area" includes any area of this state that:
(A) the office determines receives less than 15
percent of the total film and television production in this state
during a fiscal year; or
(B) has a median household income that does not
exceed 75 percent of the median state household income [other than
the metropolitan areas of Austin or Dallas].
SECTION 2. Section 485.023, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 485.023. QUALIFICATION. To qualify for a grant under
this subchapter:
(1) a production company must have spent a minimum of:
(A) $250,000 [$1 million] in in-state spending
for a film or television program; or
(B) $100,000 in in-state spending for a
commercial or series of commercials, an educational or
instructional video or series of educational or instructional
videos, or a digital interactive media production;
(2) at least 70 percent of the production crew,
actors, and extras for a moving image project must be Texas
residents unless the office determines and certifies in writing
that a sufficient number of qualified crew, actors, and extras are
not available to the company at the time principal photography
begins;
(3) at least 60 [80] percent of the moving image
project must be filmed in Texas; and
(4) a production company must submit to the office an
expended budget, in a format prescribed by the office, that
reflects all in-state spending and includes all receipts, invoices,
pay orders, and other documentation considered necessary by the
office to accurately determine the amount of a production company's
in-state spending that has occurred.
SECTION 3. Sections 485.024 and 485.025, Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 485.024. GRANT. (a) Except as provided by Section
485.025, a grant under this subchapter may not exceed the amount
established by office rule. The office shall adopt rules
prescribing the method the office will use to calculate the amount
of a grant under this subsection. The office shall publish a
written summary of the method for determining grants before
awarding a grant under this section. The method must consider at a
minimum:
(1) the current and likely future effect a moving
image project will have on employment, tourism, and economic
activity in this state; and
(2) the amount of a production company's in-state
spending for a moving image project [lesser of five percent of the
total amount of a production company's in-state spending for a
moving image project or:
[(1) $2 million for a film;
[(2) $2.5 million for a television program;
[(3) $200,000 for a commercial or series of
commercials; or
[(4) $250,000 for a digital interactive media
production].
(b) In calculating a grant amount under Section 485.025 or
the amount of in-state spending for purposes of rules adopted under
Subsection (a), the office may not include wages of persons,
including an actor or director, employed in the production of a
moving image project that exceed $1 million [are:
[(1) a major part of the production costs of the
project, as determined by the office; and
[(2) negotiated or spent before production begins].
(c) The office may only make a grant from appropriated
funds.
Sec. 485.025. ADDITIONAL GRANT FOR UNDERUTILIZED AND
ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED [UNDERUSED] AREAS. In addition to the
grant calculated under Section 485.024, a production company that
spends at least 25 percent of a moving image project's filming days
in an underutilized and economically distressed [underused] area is
eligible for an additional grant in an amount equal to 2.5 [1.25]
percent of the total amount of the production company's in-state
spending for the moving image project.
SECTION 4. (a) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia
Office in the office of the governor shall adopt the rules required
by Section 485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, not
later than November 1, 2009.
(b) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Office in
the office of the governor may not award a grant under Section
485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, before the rules
described by Subsection (a) of this section are adopted.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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