{"id":2220074,"date":"2024-04-13T10:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T14:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-newsom-says-film-subsidies-bring-jobs-to-california\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T10:30:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T14:30:36","slug":"fact-check-newsom-says-film-subsidies-bring-jobs-to-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-newsom-says-film-subsidies-bring-jobs-to-california\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Newsom&#8217;s claim that film subsidies create job opportunities in California"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-newsom-says-film-subsidies-bring-jobs-to-california%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2220074&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hunter-biden-defector-emails-pipeline-to-obama-admin-seen-as-currency\/\" title=\"Hunter Biden Defector Emails: 'Pipeline' to Obama Admin Seen as 'Currency'\">press release<\/a> from Governor Gavin Newsom highlights the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/under-trump-americans-have-seen-their-best-wage-growth-in-40-years\/\" title=\"Under Trump, Americans Have Seen Their Best Wage Growth In 40 Years\">economic benefits<\/a> of\u200b film and TV production subsidies in California as part\u2062 of the \u2063&#8221;California Jobs First initiative.&#8221; However, economists question\u200c the efficacy of\u200b these subsidies in generating economic growth and job creation. The debate continues \u2062between proponents and critics of California&#8217;s Film and Television Tax Credit program. Governor Gavin Newsom&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yellow-trucking-corporation-files-lawsuit-against-teamsters-union\/\" title=\"Yellow Trucking Corp sues Teamsters Union.\">press release emphasizes<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/communist-china-appears-to-block-online-tiananmen-square-museum-follows-crackdown-on-other-exhibits\/\" title=\"Communist China Appears To Block Online Tiananmen Square Museum, Follows Crackdown On Other Exhibits\">economic advantages<\/a> of film and TV production\u2063 subsidies within California&#8217;s &#8220;California Jobs First initiative.&#8221; \u200bNevertheless, economists raise doubts about the effectiveness of these subsidies in stimulating economic growth and employment. The ongoing discourse between supporters and detractors of California&#8217;s Film and Television Tax \u2064Credit program \u2062underscores the complexity of the issue.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 Does California need to pay Hollywood to make films in \u2026 Hollywood?<\/p>\n<p>In a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2024\/04\/08\/fallout-season-two-relocates-to-california-and-11-more-television-projects-to-film-in-the-golden-state-through-the-states-film-and-tv-tax-credit-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a><\/strong> this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed to the economic growth produced by subsidies for film and TV production in the state as a key part of his \u201cCalifornia Jobs First initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom bringing <em>Fallout<\/em> home to keeping classics in California, this program has helped our iconic, world-leading entertainment sector create tens of thousands of good jobs for Californians and generate billions of dollars for communities across the state over the past 15 years,\u201d Gov. Newsom said.<\/p>\n<p>But economists call claims about film subsidies vastly inflated. \u201cPeer-reviewed studies are unanimous that the incentives do not spur economic growth, nor do they create a sufficient number of jobs to justify the cost,\u201d Professor Michael Thom of the University of Southern California told The Center Square. \u201cAs California\u2019s budget deficit balloons, taxpayers can scarcely afford to subsidize television shows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The California Film Commission disagrees. \u201cCalifornia\u2019s Film and Television Tax Credit program has continuously delivered for California\u2019s taxpayers, ensuring the state retains production jobs while maximizing economic impact. For every tax credit dollar allocated through this program, the state can expect significant returns \u2013 not just in Hollywood, but in communities across California where our unmatched crews, talent, infrastructure and locations have made us the world\u2019s entertainment capital,\u201d\u00a0Colleen Bell said in a statement to The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the discrepancy, the governor\u2019s press office defended the governor\u2019s statement <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/laedc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/LAEDC-Report_CA-Film-TV-Tax-Credit-Program-2.0_FINAL_2022.03.14.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">citing a study<\/a><\/strong> done for the Motion Picture Association which represents firms who have benefited from billions of dollars in subsidies from the program since it was put in place in 2009. The firm that conducted the analysis for the MPA previously tried to hide its connections to industry lobbyists, according to Thom and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/la-xpm-2011-jul-20-la-fi-hiltzik-20110720-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LA Times<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The study is based on a computer model called IMPLAN developed for the U.S. Forest Service to model policy decisions about natural resource management in forests and grasslands. Economists are highly critical of the model, which costs about $1,000 and non-economists can be trained to use in a few hours.<\/p>\n<p>In a peer-reviewed analysis of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/implan.com\/economic-development\/?utm_term=implan%20multipliers&#038;utm_campaign=Search_IMPLAN&#038;utm_source=adwords&#038;utm_medium=ppc&#038;hsa_acc=3435734339&#038;hsa_net=adwords&#038;hsa_cam=16222623499&#038;hsa_ad=694993534062&#038;hsa_kw=implan%20multipliers&#038;hsa_grp=168933002588&#038;hsa_mt=e&#038;hsa_ver=3&#038;hsa_src=g&#038;hsa_tgt=kwd-2290635692809&#038;gad_source=1&#038;gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUrQ9Ph1w6QVgIHTzluO95uvDoOwJVcZHnc1XCAWqapgHgP70KWsPKhoCamQQAvD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IMPLAN<\/a><\/strong> in 2019, Texas A&#038;M Professor John Crompton derided the model as \u201ceasy for unscrupulous sponsors and their consultants to (use to) produce \u2018mischievous\u2019 analyses designed to \u2026 position their project in the minds of elected officials and taxpayers as being a key element in a community\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He cited 25 flaws in the program, including the fact that it only counts the benefits of subsidized projects and none of the costs and that \u201cfudged multiplier coefficients\u201d produce inflated results.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, even the study cited by Gov. Newsom\u2019s office acknowledges that its results may be inflated by nearly 50% as the state\u2019s own data show that nearly half of projects that don\u2019t get subsidies stay in California anyway.<\/p>\n<p>The consensus that film and TV subsidy programs don\u2019t work is so solid that even the think tanks on the right and left that disagree about everything else are in accord on the flaws of the programs. Michigan\u2019s <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mackinac.org\/film-incentives-dont-generate-economic-development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">right-leaning Mackinac Center<\/a><\/strong> argues they don\u2019t work and Washington\u2019s left-wing Center for Budget and Policy Priorities <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/research\/state-film-subsidies-not-much-bang-for-too-many-bucks#:~:text=Film%20subsidies%20don't%20pay,per%20dollar%20of%20awarded%20subsidy.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sings kumbaya<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Newsom and California are not alone in pursuing what economists call a \u201cflawed\u201d economic development plan. Since Hawaii became the first state to create a film and TV subsidy program in the 1990s, the programs have spread to dozens of states of all political persuasions. Red states Texas and Oklahoma are in what The New York Times called a \u201c<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/07\/arts\/oklahoma-texas-film-incentives-tulsa-king.html?ugrp=m&#038;unlocked_article_code=1.jE0.NS69.TBYGvxPw-ReI&#038;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">border war<\/a><\/strong>\u201d in expanding their own programs to compete with each other.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent press release, Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted the economic benefits of film and TV production subsidies in California. These incentives play a crucial role in the state&#8217;s &#8220;California Jobs First initiative,&#8221; fostering economic growth and promoting local job creation. Newsom&#8217;s stance raises questions about the necessity of subsidizing Hollywood productions in its own backyard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3062,"featured_media":2220075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP20134762796194-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2220074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP20134762796194-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3062"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2220074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2220075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2220074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2220074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2220074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}