SACRAMENTO —
Hollywood wants money from the state of California.
Lawmakers want Hollywood to hire more of their ethnically diverse constituents.
Can they strike a deal?
It’s a discussion I’ll be watching at the state Capitol over the next few months as lawmakers review Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to extend California’s film tax credit for another five years. Newsom wants to give movie studios a perk they’ve long sought — a refundable tax credit that would let them convert a portion of their tax credits into cash payments. He also proposes docking tax credits from productions that don’t meet workforce diversity goals.
But the proposal is facing pushback from lawmakers frustrated by what they see as Hollywood’s insufficient progress in hiring women and people of color since the state increased the film tax credit two years ago for construction of new soundstages. Those incentives were designed to encourage the hiring of workers who reflect the race and gender makeup of the state.
Tension also is rising as lawmakers work to close a $22.5-billion budget deficit that could result in cuts to spending on public transit and clean energy, as well as delays in funding day care for 20,000 children.
“We can’t go back to our constituents and tell them why we put money in your pockets,” Assemblymember Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs the budget committee, said to film commission representatives during a hearing this week in the Capitol in which he chastised them for not...
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