Bill to triple California film tax credits clears the Legislature

A bill that would more than triple funding for California’s film and TV tax credit program was overwhelmingly approved by the state Senate and Assembly on Friday.

The Senate, as expected, on Friday approved by a 32-to-2 vote legislation that would increase funding for the state’s film incentives to $330 million a year for five years, a substantial boost from the $100 million a year currently allocated under the film program.

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FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this post said the legislation would increase incentive funding to $330 million over five years. The bill would increase it to $330 million a year for five years.

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The bill also cleared the Assembly by a 72-to-0 vote.

The vote comes two days after Gov. Jerry Brown signaled his support for the bill as part of a last-minute compromise hashed out with the state’s legislative leaders.

The law is intended to make California more competitive with rival states such as New York, Georgia and Louisiana that have gained a larger share of the movie and TV business in the last decade.

In addition to boosting funding, the bill allows more projects to qualify for subsidies, including big-budget studio movies and new network dramas and television pilots.

It also would phase out a lottery system that is used to select applicants for tax credits. Instead, projects would be selected based on how many jobs they would create.

The funding would take effect in July 2015, and it will go to Brown’s desk for his signature sometime next month.

Twitter: @rverrier