California has ruined its once dominant and thriving film business in Hollywood, by creating a high tax, pro-union, and byzantine regulatory climate. Film and TV industry employment in the LA area hit a 30-year-low last year, with the region’s share of jobs falling from 33% in 2022 to 22%.

What is Governor Gavin Newsom’s response?  Force feed film companies to stay in California by doubling the state’s film and TV tax credit program to $750 million. The state will now provide up to a 40% tax credit to offset production expenses.

California has been passing out lavish tax credits since 2009 to keep the industry from moving out – but to no avail.

Chasing film crews doesn’t work. Audits of state film tax credits routinely find they cost states more money than they save. But states refuse to learn the lesson. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has just expanded Illinois’s tax credit package. So has New Jersey.

But they keep losing jobs. Why not just cut their highest in the nation tax rates on ALL their businesses, rather than pick winners and losers.