A bill to amend 1984 PA 270, entitled “Michigan strategic fund act,” by amending sections 29, 29a, 29b, and 29d (MCL 125.2029, 125.2029a, 125.2029b, and 125.2029d), sections 29 and 29b as added by 2008 PA 75, section 29a as amended by 2011 PA 291, and section 29d as amended by 2020 PA 199; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
Senate Bills 438 and 439, which were introduced with identical language to House Bills 4907 and 4908, would amend the Michigan Strategic Fund Act and the Income Tax Act, respectively, to create a transferrable income tax credit administered by the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office that would be available to companies that produce qualified productions in Michigan. The new program would repeal and replace the former Film and Digital Media Production Incentive, which was eliminated in 2015.
The bills would have taxpayers give media production companies up to 30 cents worth of corporate income tax credits for every dollar they spend in Michigan. Hollywood generates little tax liability in the state, but legislators would allow the tax credits to be sold to other businesses, allowing producers to cash in on the people of Michigan.
Subsidies for film production are an ineffective way to generate broad-based improvements in Michigan’s economy. Michigan spent $500 million on its previous film program, and the temporary increase in filmmaking jobs, which never amounted to more than a few hundred, disappeared when subsidies stopped.
The film subsidy bills add $2.075 billion in subsidies to be authorized over the next ten years. The bills are tie-barred together, meaning that neither can take effect unless both are enacted.
Co-sponsored by Sens.
Referred to the Committee on Economic and Community Development
