Variety reports that Assembly Bill 2747, which would have provided as much as $650 million in tax credits to encourage producers to keep productions in California, was turned down by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Despite the support of major Hollywood unions, the so-called "runaway production bill" proved a casualty of bad timing as the state faces a $22 billion deficit.
The bill, authored by Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson and introduced by Gov. Gray Davis in January, would have granted a 15% wage-based tax credit on the first $25,000 of an employee’s salary on productions with budgets up to $10 million.
Proponents of the bill are still hopeful, however, as similar federal runaway production legislation is still pending after a year in the pipeline.
