The Maryland Film Production Employment Act Passes

In the final hours of the 2011 session of the Maryland General Assembly, the Legislature unanimously passed SB672: the Maryland Film Production Employment Act, and the Screen Actors Guild Washington-Baltimore Branch and AFTRA Washington-Baltimore Local played a key role in the successful passage of this legislation that will bring film and TV jobs back to that once busy state. The bill was signed into law by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley on May 19, 2011.

This was the culmination of a multi-year effort led by a coalition of business leaders, union leaders, educational institutions, government entities and individuals of which the Screen Actors Guild Washington-Baltimore Branch and AFTRA Washington-Baltimore Local are a vital part.  Branch Assistant Executive Director Jane Love serves on the coalition board and its Government Relations Committee. Jane and a great many fabulous local member activists tirelessly lobbied key individual legislators, packed hearing rooms, offered persuasive testimony, and flooded key legislators with phone calls, letters and emails.  


Seated: William Addison, Secretary of the Senate, Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Governor Martin O’Malley, Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch, Mary Monahan, Karl Aro
First Row: Senator Nancy J. King, Senator Jamie Raskin, Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, Donna Edwards (Secretary-Treasurer Maryland State AFL-CIO), Jed Dietz (Director Maryland Film Festival), Delegate Nathaniel T. Oaks, Senator Verna L. Jones, Debbie Donaldson Dorsey, (Director Baltimore City Film Office) Jane Love (AFTRA Washington –Baltimore Local Asst. Executive Director), Rosemarie Levy (formerly of IATSE Local 487)
Second Row: Delegate Jon S. Cardin, Senator Richard S. Madaleno, Jr., Scott Johnson (Chair of the Maryland Film Industry Coalition), Senator Catherine E. Pugh, David O’Ferrall, (IATSE Local 487) Gerry Evans, and Darryl Carrington (Lobbyists for the Maryland Film Industry Coalition), and Hayley Evans Polansky (Senator Miller’s Staff)
 
The legislation will effectively increase the dollars available for film and TV projects in Maryland to $7.5 million per year, but perhaps more importantly, it changes what was a smaller discretionary grant program to one that allows a qualified film production entity to claim a credit against the State income tax for specified costs - (25% for film; 27% for television series)  of documented, qualifying expenditures. 

Given the tough fiscal choices with which the Maryland legislature was faced this session, this was an incredible and hard fought outcome. And now, with the foundation in place, the effort next year will be focused on increasing the cap! 

Photo Caption: Local SAG Council member and former Maryland politician Jack Jenkins presenting SAG-AFTRA Assistant Executive Director of the Washington-Baltimore Branch Jane Love with Citations from the Maryland Senate and the Maryland House of Delegates at our joint SAG-AFTRA membership meeting on May 16.