A committee of the Louisiana Senate voted on Tuesday to retain the state’s tax incentive for movie manufacturing, whereas lowering the cap on this system from $150 million to $125 million.

Final week, the state Home of Representatives voted to terminate the inducement efficient June 30, 2025, as a part of a sweeping tax reform bundle. In response, lots of of individuals jammed the hallways of the state Capitol in Baton Rouge on Sunday to protest the transfer, which might threaten hundreds of movie jobs.

On Tuesday, the Senate Income and Fiscal Affairs Committee backed off, voting to maintain the movie credit score in place whereas chopping the cap, beginning subsequent yr.

State Sen. Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport, applauded the transfer, together with an identical transfer to maintain a tax incentive for rehabilitation of historic buildings.

“Each of those credit for my part have proven they’re sensible investments,” Jenkins mentioned.

However the last legislative end result was nonetheless to be decided. The Senate committee additionally adopted amendments that may get rid of refundability of all tax credit — that means that taxpayers might not get money again for credit that exceed their state earnings tax legal responsibility — a probably important difficulty if it had been included within the last invoice.

“For tasks that apply on or after January 1, 2025, movement image tax credit is probably not transferred to the Division of Income and shall be solely utilized to offset earnings tax on a return,” the modification states.

The present program permits producers to redeem as much as $180 million in credit per yr. If producers should not have sufficient tax legal responsibility, they’ll promote the credit again to the Division of Income at a ten% low cost.

The state points not more than $150 million every year. Beneath the committee amendments, each caps can be lowered to $125 million.

The amendments included at the least one profit for the trade. If productions don’t use the complete $125 million in any given yr, the steadiness would roll over to the next yr.

“There’s a sturdy urge for food that we have to preserve the trade,” mentioned Rep. Emily Chenevert, a Republican from Baton Rouge, in an interview on Friday. “When individuals want to shoot, we wish them to know we’re open for enterprise.”

The committee additionally voted to retain a tax credit score for rehabilitation of historic buildings, whereas chopping this system from $125 million to $85 million.

Gov. Jeff Landry known as a particular session of the Legislature final month to decrease state earnings taxes, with the intention of constructing the state extra enticing to companies. The governor proposed lowering private earnings taxes to three% and chopping the company earnings tax — which works as excessive as 7.5% — to a flat 5.5% charge.

To be able to offset the misplaced income, the governor proposed eliminating some 200 tax exemptions and credit and charging gross sales taxes on items and providers which might be at the moment untaxed. The tax cuts have proved common amongst lawmakers, however lots of the offsets have been controversial.

To pay for the additional price of retaining the movie and historic preservation credit, the committee was requested to approve a 6% company tax charge, reasonably than a 5.5% charge. The committee rejected that transfer on a 4-6 vote, nevertheless.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is creating a movie studio in Shreveport, with the expectation that the state movie credit score will assist spur manufacturing. The Shreveport Metropolis Council handed a decision two weeks in the past urging the state Legislature to retain the credit for filming and for preservation of historic buildings.

Movie Louisiana, which has led the trade lobbying effort, has repeatedly mentioned that it helps pro-business tax reform. Nevertheless it has additionally argued that the movie credit score helps 10,000 jobs and has led to $1 billion in financial exercise per yr.

“We’re engaged on the perfect path ahead,” mentioned Jason Waggenspack, the president of Movie Louisiana, in an interview on Friday. “We’re cautiously optimistic.”