Bill > HB4568

This bill establishes and reforms the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program by creating a new Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Fund with $500 million in funding from sales tax proceeds. The bill increases the minimum in-state spending requirement for film and television projects from $250,000 to $500,000 and introduces a graduated requirement for hiring Texas-based production crew, actors, and extras, starting at 35% in 2025 and increasing to 50% by 2031. The legislation introduces new grant categories, including Texas heritage grants (2.5% for projects promoting family values), rural filming grants (2.5% for projects filmed in counties with populations under 300,000), and postproduction grants (1% for projects spending at least 25% of in-state costs on postproduction). The bill also explicitly prohibits grants for projects involving pornography, political advertising, religious services, sports events, and other specified content types. Additionally, the office administering the program will review project content before and after production to ensure it meets certain standards of decency and portrays Texas positively. The incentive program and fund are set to expire on August 31, 2035, with a provision to transfer any unspent balance to the general revenue fund at that time.

Business and Industry

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB4568