Lawmakers across the country are scouring state budgets for ways to cut public spending and allow sustainable private sector job creation. One increasingly popular consideration is eliminating movie production incentives (MPIs). MPIs have been adopted in 44 states (plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) since 2002, however in the last year alone 17 cash strapped states rightly discussed eliminating this form of corporate welfare.
I explore this topic in my latest Denver Business Journal op-ed entitled “Don’t Give Handouts to Hollywood,” in this piece I:
- Explain why MPIs don’t work (they don’t pay for themselves or live up to empty promises of economic development);
- Provide the latest MPI policy developments (Washington State ended their program while Michigan and New Mexico capped theirs); and
- Suggest more prudent policies to enable sustainable private sector job creation (a level playing field without corporate subsidies thereby allowing private sector competition and innovation).
For more, read the full op-ed available online here.