LD 384 passed the first step! This is big news for the bill, which was killed in committee last year.
At 3:20pm this afternoon, the Joint Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development took the first step in passing LD 384, the bill to provide tax incentives for films and sound recordings, by an 11-1 majority. Some changes to the bill were made, including increasing the minimum expenditure on a film to $75,000, and reducing the minimum expenditure on a sound recording to $15,000. There was a considerable amount of constructive discussion before the vote was taken. The bill was sent to the fiscal department for a fiscal note to be attached to the bill and then sent back to LCRED for another vote before being sent to the Appropriations Committee.
Why do we need film and sound recording tax incentives? The answer is simple: to be competitive with other states, including our very film-friendly neighbor, Massachusetts. There is considerable interest by film makers to come to Maine, but without the appropriate incentives, Maine will continue to lose this business to other states and Canada.
Our hats are off to the hard work by Representative John Picchiotti (Fairfield) for his undying support and dedication to see this bill through.
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