February 28, 2023 - This brief surveys research on the economic effects of state film tax credits and analyzes the Governor's proposal to extend California's film tax credit for five years.
February 28, 2025 - This brief discusses California's film tax credit and assesses the Governor’s Budget proposal to raise the amount of tax credits available for the California Film Commission to allocate to $750 million starting in 2025‑26.
April 30, 2014 - This report provides background information on the motion picture industry and offers preliminary observations regarding the California film and television production tax credit. This report does not make recommendations regarding the tax credit or any proposed legislation. We highlight several factors for the Legislature to consider when reviewing the tax credit in our report.
September 29, 2016 -
In this report, as required by law, we evaluate the economic effects and the administration of the first film tax credit program passed in 2009. We find that about one–third of the film and television projects receiving incentives under this program would probably have been made in California anyway. We suspect that this level of “windfall benefits” to some credit recipients may be low compared to other tax credits, which would suggest that the first film tax credit program targeted the types of production vulnerable to being filmed outside the state relatively well.
Also see these four short videos that highlight findings from this report.
June 21, 2012 - Letter to Hon. Lois Wolk, Chair of Senate Governance and Finance Committee, providing an evaluation of the February 2012 report, "Economic and Production Impacts of the 2009 California Film and Television Tax Credit."
January 4, 2024 - This report provides an analysis of state assistance given to businesses in response to COVID-19. It includes: (1) background information on the state and federal programs that provided both broad and targeted relief to businesses; (2) a description of the industries that received the most public assistance; and (3) a description of the types of communities, defined using zip codes, that received more state and federal assistance. The report concludes with some findings and comments for the Legislature.
February 28, 2022 - In this post, we analyze the Governor’s proposal to provide resources to the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) to implement specific proposals recommended by a taskforce established by the Governor aimed at finding ways to make the state a better employer. In addition, the proposal would seek to improve statewide data on the workforce to inform a statewide diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. We recommend that the Legislature approve the proposal and encourage the Legislature to exercise legislative oversight of the process to ensure that the administration’s policies meet legislative objectives and priorities.
September 23, 2021 - This post discusses features of the state's spending plan that were not covered elsewhere in the 2021-22 Spending Plan series.
November 8, 2023 - This post discusses features of the state's spending plan that were not covered elsewhere in the 2023-24 Spending Plan series.