House Votes To Cap Louisiana Film Tax Credits

Louisiana's film industry has been a good thing and a bad thing. Since the state stepped up to the plate a few years ago and offered some incredible tax credits to the film industry, Hollywood has had no trouble finding the Bayou State. The problem with the tax credits has been that the return on the investment has not been what it should be. This shortfall in revenue gained versus money spent has been the subject of intense debate in this session of the Louisiana Legislature.

Yesterday the House voted to cap tax credits extended by the state to film makers at $200 million dollars. There are currently $226 million dollars in tax credits extended to film makers already this year. There are no tax credit caps in place.

One representative, Lance Harris of Alexandria, says the cap of $200 million is still too much money. He thinks $150 million dollars would have been better for the state.

"Think about this $50 million dollars I'm talking about when you go home and tell everybody that we had to close our historical structures and couldn't keep our museums open,"

Harris is referring to historical sites and museums that have had to cut operation and hours because of the current fiscal crisis in the state. Harris' remarks were reported by the Louisiana Radio Network.

There are those that disagree with Representative Harris, among those are Metarie Representative Joe Lapinto. He feels that additional $50 million in cuts would put Louisiana at a disadvantage for securing film projects and that would have a negative effect on the state and potential jobs.