Film Students, Profs Say State Should Keep Tax Credit
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Film students and professors from more than a dozen colleges and universities in Massachusetts are urging lawmakers to keep the state's film tax credit.
Gov. Charlie Baker has called for the elimination of the tax credit, arguing that it largely helps out-of-state Hollywood production companies.
But students and educators who came to the Statehouse on Monday argued that without the film credit, the incentive to make movies would diminish in the Bay State and graduates would be forced to go elsewhere to look for jobs.
Bob Rosenthal, the Suffolk University chairman of communications, says the tax credit creates jobs.
"While there are people from Hollywood who make money, people who are the average working person, to the tune of 1,351 per year, get jobs because of the film industry," he said.
Labor union and small business owners have also said they benefit when large productions are filmed in Massachusetts.
Baker wants to use the money that would be saved by doing away with the tax credit to double the state's earned income tax credit.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports:
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