Referred to: The Economic Development, Planning, Education, Employment, Arts and Agriculture Committee (Chairman Cahill and Legislators Corcoran, Criswell, Hewitt, Litts, Maloney, and Sperry)

Legislators Brian Cahill and Megan Sperry and Legislators Bartels, Criswell and Stewart offer the following:

WHEREAS, the film industry in New York State is an integral aspect of our regional economy, generating over $12 billion in wages per year, employing over 50,000 New Yorkers; and

          WHEREAS, in 2022 film production in the Hudson Valley brought $65 million to the area, including over 45,000 room nights at local lodgings and more than 3,000 employment opportunities as extras or crew for residents; and

          WHEREAS, production companies have strong existing relationships with property owners and businesses in our community furthering ease of use for filming locations and material services; and

          WHEREAS, Ulster County has served as the filming locations for numerous productions of both television and film, with our landmarks and picturesque landscapes being featured in A Quiet Place, Pretty Little Liars, The Whale as well as scores of other successful film operations; and

          WHEREAS, New York State is no longer offering incentives comparable to states like Georgia, Ohio, Utah and Kentucky, causing several productions to relocate their filming, leading to loss of local revenue; and

          WHEREAS, the credit cap on productions filming upstate hampers smaller productions dependent on this subsidy from utilizing our communities; and

          WHEREAS, the current timeline set by New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to receive the credit is five to six years, forcing productions to take out more costly loans or simply move production out of state, hampering the economic opportunity of Ulster County and the Hudson Valley region; and

WHEREAS, the bill proposed by Senator Hinchey and Assemblymember Barrett would remove the $5 million cap on productions located outside New York City, benefitting smaller, independent productions; and

WHEREAS, this legislation extends the eligibility of the tax credit through 2034, allowing our region to remain economically viable for productions well into the next decade; and 

          WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature believes that the passage of this legislation will allow our regional film industry the ability to remain competitive with New York City and other regions outside New York State; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature hereby strongly urges all members of the New York State Senate and Assembly to support and Governor Hochul to immediately sign into law S.4832(Hinchey)/A.5003(Barrett), An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the empire state film production credit and the empire state film post production credit; and, be it further

RESOLVED, the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward copies of this resolutions to Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Investigations & Government Operations Committee Chair James Skoufis, Assembly Ways & Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein, Assemblymember Didi Barrett and all Ulster County elected Assemblymembers and Senators,

and moves its adoption.

         ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

         AYES:                   NOES:       

Passed Committee: Economic Development, Planning, Education, Employment, Arts and Agriculture on ________________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE