A Bill that would boost tax breaks for films, television shows and videogames produced in Florida has passed the Sunshine State’s House in a unanimous 112-0 vote.
HB 697, sponsored by Representative Stephen Precourt (R) (pictured), and Senator Mike Haridopolos (R) would escalate tax breaks for film, television and digital media productions from 15.0 percent to 20.0 percent and award an additional 5.0 percent for movies filmed during Florida’s hurricane season.
Another provision of the Bill, which caused a bit of controversy, offers an additional 5.0 percent tax break (up from the existing 2.0 percent) for “family friendly” productions, while omitting productions with “nontraditional family values,” which some took as targeting films, television shows or games with gay themes.
To combat the negative perception, Precourt changed the wording of the bill to remove the “nontraditional phrase” and added a line that would exclude movies (from receiving the additional tax break) which feature ”other matters that would offend parents whose 5-year-old views the motion picture or games.”
The Bill sets forth an annual cap of $75.0 million per year for tax credits.
