LANSING – Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said Friday he is considering a proposal to bolster the state’s film incentive that would reward companies for hiring Michigan workers.
Richardville (R-Monroe) said he would like the state to provide a sliding incentive in the 27 percent to 32 percent range to film production efforts, but for specific activities, not for the entire production. Richardville press secretary Amber McCann had said earlier this week Richardville might introduce a bill on the issue as soon as this week.
The incentive would be more of a grant than a tax credit. Under the tax changes enacted this year, the film incentive will cease to be a refundable credit of 42 percent on film production costs and instead the state will provide grants from a pool of $25 million to encourage films to be made in Michigan. However, film officials have said $25 million is nowhere near enough to make Michigan competitive with other states and the nascent industry would likely dry up.
“We’re also going to be doing it in possibly a different way because of the different tax structure we have,” Richardville said. “It’s going to have to be a new world regarding how we provide incentives to filmmakers not just to come to Michigan, we’ve got a bunch of them in Michigan, to help them to grow.”
During an appearance on the Michigan Public Radio Network, Richardville said there’s a middle ground between what the state has done and the changes in store for 2011.
“I think we’d make a mistake if we just pulled the plug completely,” he said. “We can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
But he also said the incentive needs to target Michigan-centered operations. “We’re not going to pay Hollywood actors millions of dollars to come here, wave to some people and leave,” he said.
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