Pritzker highlights film growth while studies question tax credit’s value

By Sean Reed | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited a major film studio Thursday in Chicago to discuss the growth of Illinois’ film industry, joined by leaders and lawmakers. The sizable growth of the industry in the state was built off major tax subsidies for studios.

Pritzker said the tax credit helped to draw an estimated 90% of all film and television production to the state, with nearly seven times the foregone tax revenue being spent in-state due to the incentive.

“For every dollar that we invest in that tax credit, we generate $7 in activity amounting to billions of dollars in investment over the past decade. We’ve gone even further, distributing $10 million through the Illinois Soundstage Capital Grant program,” Pritzker said.

The state recoups a portion of said spending through other routes of taxation, but the investment is still a net negative for the state’s balance sheet.

Findings on the financial impact on film and entertainment tax credits on New York’s state economy show only about 30% of subsidies return to the state through increased taxable income.

Additionally, recent studies on similar tax incentive programs in Georgia by an independent researcher – along with findings from the California Legislature’s Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor – have found an overall weak impact on a state’s overall economy.

Anthony Barracca, an executive of IATSE Studio Mechanics Local 476 and president of the Illinois Production Alliance, said the tax credit has played a role in union growth in the sector.

“More than 70 participants have been awarded local 476 union cards. With others joining the likes of IATSE 769 and local 600,” Barracca said. “These careers provide strong wages, health care, retirement benefits, training, safety protections, dignified working conditions, and most of all and importantly, life-changing jobs.”

The tax credit has been extended under Pritzker multiple times, and is currently set to last through 2039 in its current form.