Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB605 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Deuell, et al. S.B. No. 605
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed January 30, 2009; February 23, 2009,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Economic Development;
4	4	March 26, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; March 26, 2009,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 605 By: Deuell
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to incentives for the film, television, video, and digital
13	13	interactive media production industries.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Subdivisions (2) and (5), Section 485.021,
16	16	Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
17	17	(2) "Moving image project" means a visual and sound
18	18	production, including a film, television program, national or
19	19	multistate commercial, educational or instructional video, or
20	20	digital interactive media production. The term does not include a
21	21	production that is obscene, as defined by Section 43.21, Penal
22	22	Code.
23	23	(5) "Underutilized and economically distressed
24	24	["Underused] area" includes any area of this state that:
25	25	(A) the office determines receives less than 15
26	26	percent of the total film and television production in this state
27	27	during a fiscal year; or
28	28	(B) has a median household income that does not
29	29	exceed 75 percent of the median state household income [other than
30	30	the metropolitan areas of Austin or Dallas].
31	31	SECTION 2. Section 485.023, Government Code, is amended to
32	32	read as follows:
33	33	Sec. 485.023. QUALIFICATION. To qualify for a grant under
34	34	this subchapter:
35	35	(1) a production company must have spent a minimum of:
36	36	(A) $250,000 [$1 million] in in-state spending
37	37	for a film or television program; or
38	38	(B) $100,000 in in-state spending for a
39	39	commercial or series of commercials, an educational or
40	40	instructional video or series of educational or instructional
41	41	videos, or a digital interactive media production;
42	42	(2) at least 70 percent of the production crew,
43	43	actors, and extras for a moving image project must be Texas
44	44	residents unless the office determines and certifies in writing
45	45	that a sufficient number of qualified crew, actors, and extras are
46	46	not available to the company at the time principal photography
47	47	begins;
48	48	(3) at least 60 [80] percent of the moving image
49	49	project must be filmed in Texas; and
50	50	(4) a production company must submit to the office an
51	51	expended budget, in a format prescribed by the office, that
52	52	reflects all in-state spending and includes all receipts, invoices,
53	53	pay orders, and other documentation considered necessary by the
54	54	office to accurately determine the amount of a production company's
55	55	in-state spending that has occurred.
56	56	SECTION 3. Sections 485.024 and 485.025, Government Code,
57	57	are amended to read as follows:
58	58	Sec. 485.024. GRANT. (a) Except as provided by Section
59	59	485.025, a grant under this subchapter may not exceed the amount
60	60	established by office rule. The office shall adopt rules
61	61	prescribing the method the office will use to calculate the amount
62	62	of a grant under this subsection. The office shall publish a
63	63	written summary of the method for determining grants before
64	64	awarding a grant under this section. The method must consider at a
65	65	minimum:
66	66	(1) the current and likely future effect a moving
67	67	image project will have on employment, tourism, and economic
68	68	activity in this state; and
69	69	(2) the amount of a production company's in-state
70	70	spending for a moving image project [lesser of five percent of the
71	71	total amount of a production company's in-state spending for a
72	72	moving image project or:
73	73	[(1) $2 million for a film;
74	74	[(2) $2.5 million for a television program;
75	75	[(3) $200,000 for a commercial or series of
76	76	commercials; or
77	77	[(4) $250,000 for a digital interactive media
78	78	production].
79	79	(b) In calculating a grant amount under Section 485.025 or
80	80	the amount of in-state spending for purposes of rules adopted under
81	81	Subsection (a), the office may not include wages of persons,
82	82	including an actor or director, employed in the production of a
83	83	moving image project that exceed $1 million [are:
84	84	[(1) a major part of the production costs of the
85	85	project, as determined by the office; and
86	86	[(2) negotiated or spent before production begins].
87	87	(c) The office may only make a grant from appropriated
88	88	funds.
89	89	Sec. 485.025. ADDITIONAL GRANT FOR UNDERUTILIZED AND
90	90	ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED [UNDERUSED] AREAS. In addition to the
91	91	grant calculated under Section 485.024, a production company that
92	92	spends at least 25 percent of a moving image project's filming days
93	93	in an underutilized and economically distressed [underused] area is
94	94	eligible for an additional grant in an amount equal to 2.5 [1.25]
95	95	percent of the total amount of the production company's in-state
96	96	spending for the moving image project.
97	97	SECTION 4. (a) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia
98	98	Office in the office of the governor shall adopt the rules required
99	99	by Section 485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, not
100	100	later than November 1, 2009.
101	101	(b) The Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Office in
102	102	the office of the governor may not award a grant under Section
103	103	485.024, Government Code, as amended by this Act, before the rules
104	104	described by Subsection (a) of this section are adopted.
105	105	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
106	106	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
107	107	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
108	108	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
109	109	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
110	110	* * * * *