California May Give Hollywood Tax Breaks for Not Working in Pro-Life States

Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: May 24, 2019
California May Give Hollywood Tax Breaks for Not Working in Pro-Life States

California May Give Hollywood Tax Breaks for Not Working in Pro-Life States

A California state legislator has introduced a bill that would give filmmakers an additional tax credit if they relocate their productions to California from states with abortion restrictions.

The bill targets states like Alabama and Georgia that recently passed laws either restricting or outlawing abortion, says bill sponsor Luz Rivas, a Democratic assemblywoman. 

“My bill provides the film industry a relocation incentive during a time of national uproar that has ensued from these shameful actions of restricting access to abortion services, and the call to action from several Hollywood stars and studios to instead avoid film production in states that do not respect women or their rights,” Rivas said.

“California is both a leader in women’s rights and the film industry. We hope those who are filming in these regressive states will come to California and share our values.”

The tax credit would apply only to production companies that first try to locate to a state with pending or existing abortion restrictions. It would not – for example – apply to a production company that moves from a pro-choice state such as New York.

The bill’s text says the credit will be given to production companies that “relocated to California from a state that has pending legislation or existing law that prohibits access to, criminalizes the provision of, or otherwise restricts a woman’s access to abortion services after six weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier.” 

It also applies to film companies that “chose to pay or incur qualified expenditures in California rather than in a state that has pending legislation or existing law that prohibits access to, criminalizes the provision of, or otherwise restricts a woman’s access to abortion services after six weeks from the beginning of the pregnancy or earlier.”

Tony Perkins, president of the pro-life Family Research Council, says the bill may have little success. That’s because, he says, California has too many regulations compared to a film-friendly state like Georgia. 

The Hollywood Reporter quoted filmmakers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer as saying they’ll donate to the ACLU as a way of protesting Georgia’s law rather than move production of the movie Hillbilly Elegyout of the state.

“In the end,” Perkins wrote in his Washington Update, “they know that'll cost them less than moving to an over-regulated liberal state with sky-high taxes.”

The bill is AB 1442.

Related:

‘Star Wars’ Director Pledges Money to Fight Pro-Life Heartbeat Law 

Alabama’s Near-Total Abortion Ban Signed into Law

Abortion Supporters Are 'Anti-Science,' Ken Ham Says

Star Wars Director Pledges Money to Fight Georgia's Pro-Life Heartbeat Law

Georgia Gov. Defies Hollywood Threats, Signs Pro-Life Heartbeat Bill

Stacy Abrams Calls Georgia Heartbeat Bill 'Evil' and Says it's 'Bad for Business'

Alyssa Milano Says She Loves God then Misuses the Bible to Defend Abortion

Writers Guild of America Threatens to Boycott Georgia over Fetal Heartbeat Bill

Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.

Photo courtesy: Ahmet Yalcinkaya/Unsplash



California May Give Hollywood Tax Breaks for Not Working in Pro-Life States