At the Texas State Capitol, actors and indigenous peoples of Texas Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson They made a pitch for both parties’ state senators. “When we pass this bill in Texas, we’re going to be at the negotiation table right away and show more movies, TV and commercials right away.”
Even Lt. Colonel Dan Patrick of R-Texas was among the audience just behind them. McConaughey pushed the senators to pass SB 22. This will create an incentive program of $500 million for each budget for the two years leading up to 2035, allowing producers to create films, TV shows and commercials in Texas.
The state is currently offering $200 million, and McConaughey said New Mexico and Georgia are currently offering better incentives to producers. This means filming a new comedy in Texas.
“It’s a series that returned 15% of a personal salary to film here in Texas, to ensure they didn’t go to Georgia.”
Joan Huffman, a Republican from Houston, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, raves about the impact of taxpayer-backed programs.
“During the life of the program, it had a major economic impact on the state, creating in-state spending and 189,000 Texas jobs,” Huffman said. “For each dollar paid in the grant, the Governor’s Office says $4.69 will be spent in the state.”
McConaughey told lawmakers: “We’ve already spent over $12 million on Texas goods and labor. We’ve spent an average of more than $2 million so far, and we’re still scheduled to film for 12 weeks.”
Fort Worth Mayor Matty Parker also appeared at the hearing to add her support. “We saw firsthand the return on investment in Fort Worth alone,” Parker said. “It includes $700 million in economic impacts and 30,000 local jobs since 2015. It’s not all at once, but to make it all out, that amounts to having one American Airlines headquarters in our city.” The prequel to Yellowstone and the Paramount Plus series “1883” were Photographed in Fort Worth 2021.
Under the program, the governor’s office will decide which producers and projects will receive the grant. The project is not entitled to beat Texas or include porn.
Some senators, including Donna Campbell, said R-New Braunfels:
One resident who spoke, Paul Hale, part of the state Republican Executive Committee, criticized the taxpayer’s use of money in the program. “I’m against this bill. I’m a lifelong Republican, I grew up on a farm. And I grew up under capitalism, not socialism. This is handouts.”
Despite some concerns, the measure unanimously passed the Texas Senate Treasury Committee, now heading towards the entire Senate, which will be considered and possibly passed this week.
This week’s full episode is below:
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