The California Senate has approved a two-year extension of tax credits for the film and television industry.
The tax credit provides $100 million annually. If the bill doesn’t become law, the credit will expire in 2015.
Supporters say the tax credit is needed to prevent film and television productions from leaving the state.
While it had support from both Democrats and Republicans, Senator Sam Blakeslee opposed the measure. He says that California needs a major tax overhaul, not tax credits for favored industries.
“I’m going to be registering a no vote as a Republican on this tax credit measure because I believe we should be using our efforts to systematically fixing this broken tax code which has become such a burden for this economy,” said Blakeslee.
Democratic Senator Ron Calderon authored the bill. He says the credit is an economic engine for the state.
The measure was approved on a 32-3 vote and sent to the Assembly.
