Assembly panel advances film, digital media incentives bill

Legislation that seeks to expand New Jersey’s incentive offerings for film and digital media projects was released by the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee on Thursday.The bill, dubbed the “Garden State Film and Digital Media Jobs Act,” was passed by the Senate in June by a vote of 33-3.

The legislation aims to increase the annual program cap for film production tax credits from $10 million to $50 million and up the cap on for digital media productions from $5 million to $10 million. Under the bill, the threshold on credit-eligible production expenses would also increase, from 20 percent to 22 percent, with a contingency that purchases are made within one of the state’s Urban Enterprise Zones.

“The expansion of this tax credit will give New Jersey the shot in the arm it needs to once again attract film and digital media productions that have added so much to our economy in past years,” committee Chair and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Teaneck) said. “We need to fix the mistake that was made when this credit was suspended and create an even more powerful economic development tool for our state.”

The bill, which is similar to a 2011 measure that Gov. Chris Christie vetoed, also would mandate that companies seeking the available credits must enter into a public-private partnership with a state-based college or university and provide on-the-job training to students.

“Given the struggles we’re still facing to get our economy back on track, we need to nurture — not abandon — successful programs like this one that stimulate economic development,” Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) said. “When this credit was eliminated, we lost numerous productions that had pumped millions into our local economies. Not only will this bill allow us to reinvest in our communities by attracting film and digital media productions, it will also incentivize these productions to buy goods from businesses located in UEZs and hire residents of those cities, like Jersey City.”

The bill now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Before ultimately advancing, the bill did garner some criticism from the committee’s Republican members as well as from Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange). Among their concerns were questions regarding the state’s net benefit from the program, as well as the potential ramifications from continuing to increase incentive offerings.