The latest from the NO campaign

Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood workers, Mayor Bass, fiscal experts and Los Angeles Area legislators are sounding the alarm over a devastating threat to Hollywood’s already-struggling film and television production industry, if a cynical measure backed by wealthy real-estate developers and landlords passes off the November ballot. The initiative’s proponents are misleading voters by calling their measure the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act; in reality, they have packed this initiative to the brim with deceptive language that releases them from their responsibility to pay their fair share at an immense cost to taxpayers and workers.

“The Taxpayer Deception Act is a Republican attempt to turn back history and gut vital city services that help millions of Angelenos and have far reaching and dire consequences for Los Angeles’ signature entertainment industry,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “If the measure passes in November, production opportunities and hundreds of thousands of good-paying entertainment jobs may leave the state. It will be a devastating blow that our city, working Angelenos and their loved ones cannot afford. Together, we must vote no on this deceptive initiative.”

More accurately referred to as the Taxpayer Deception Act, this dangerous measure contains a hidden retroactivity clause that would endanger vital city services and progress to California’s landmark Film & TV Tax Credit – most recently passed as Senate Bill 132 and which generates tens of billions in economic output, keeps hundreds of thousands of jobs in California associated with billions in wages – could fall under this umbrella. 

“This proposed ballot measure would tie the Legislature’s hands from creating or even renewing targeted tax credits like the film tax credit that encourage economic activity in California,” said Keely Bosler, former California Department of Finance Director. “This harmful measure profoundly impacts the state's ability to maintain fiscal stability."

“California’s film tax credit has repeatedly saved our members, casts and crews from extinction whenever the film and television industry faces turbulent times,” said Thom Davis, President of the California IATSE Local Council. “We will not allow a handful of wealthy developers and landlords to jeopardize the very program that is essential in keeping film and television workers employed with good jobs and good benefits. We are proudly and strongly opposed to the Taxpayer Deception Act.”

“The passage of the Taxpayer Deception Act would be the death knell for the entertainment industry in California,” said Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne), Chair of the L.A. County Legislative Delegation. “This cynical measure would overturn our state’s landmark film tax credit law, killing countless jobs by robbing the entertainment workforce of billions of dollars in wages. Defeating the Taxpayer Deception Act is about protecting workers; and on behalf of the LA Delegation we are committed to defeating this dangerous measure in November.”

Background:

• California’s Film and TV Tax Credit incentivizes in-state film and TV productions by allowing eligible productions to reduce the amount they owe in sales taxes, personal income taxes, or corporate taxes.
   

• S.B. 132 (2023) extended the program for another five years, and changed how the existing credit can be used to offset productions’ tax liabilities.
  
  

  • The first 3.5 years of the current Film and TV Tax Credit are estimated to generate $7.3 billion in direct in-state spending, which includes more than $2.7 billion in qualified wage
    

• Language hidden within the Taxpayer Deception Act will nullify the Film & TV Tax Credit (SB 132), putting countless jobs and billions of dollars in economic growth at risk. Proponents buried a retroactivity clause deep within the measure, canceling certain laws passed after January 1, 2022.  Legal experts say SB 132 could be nullified were the Taxpayer Deception Act to pass because the 2023 law adjusts how much eligible productions would receive through the Film Tax Credit.