President Donald Trump is calling on Congress to pass a bipartisan federal tax incentive aimed at bringing film and television production back to the United States, and he is finding an unlikely ally in one of his most frequent political critics.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has thrown his support behind the president’s proposal, joining a growing chorus of lawmakers and industry leaders who say American production jobs have been steadily lost to countries offering more competitive tax incentives.

View Comments (0)

From Breitbart:

“I am going to suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America,” [Schiff] wrote.

“Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America. It can be done quickly, accurately, efficiently and, importantly, will benefit ALL of America.,” he added. “What we watch on the Silver Screen should be made in what was once the Movie and Motion Picture Capital of the World. Let’s get this done!”

“I am in strong agreement with the President,” [Schiff] said. “Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we’ve lost to other countries. Let’s work together — Republicans and Democrats — to get this done, and bring the movie magic back to America.”

Trump’s call comes a year after he threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on films made offshore, a move that pushed industry insiders to lobby for tax credits comparable to those offered by Canada and the United Kingdom. Schiff has previously detailed the scale of Hollywood’s decline, telling a Burbank City Hall audience that roughly 45 percent of all U.S. films and scripted television shows were shot abroad last year, a 12-point jump from 33 percent in 2022. He said the shift has cost more than 42,000 jobs, as foreign governments have aggressively invested in building their own film industries and luring American productions overseas.

While Schiff has praised the incentive programs California has implemented to keep production in-state, he has argued they are not enough on their own. State-level programs, he said, cannot substitute for the kind of global, federal, and competitive tax incentives needed to bring production back to American soil, and he has called the situation urgent.

Industry leaders have echoed that sentiment. Joe Chianese, senior vice president at Entertainment Partners, said a federal incentive would make sense in theory and would benefit not just California but U.S. production nationwide. According to Variety, such a program would give studios and producers a credit or rebate on a percentage of production costs, likely stacking on top of existing state-level credits in California, New York, Georgia, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Roughly 80 countries have adopted similar tax incentives as an economic development tool, helping production centers flourish in Central and Eastern Europe, Australia, South Africa, and other regions.

Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., who represents Burbank, has also backed the effort, saying she has spent more than a year building the case for a national film and television tax credit alongside actor Jon Voight, congressional colleagues, unions, studios, and producers. She has argued there is no reason Canada, the United Kingdom, or Australia should be taking American jobs when the country still has the best crews in the world, and that it is time to make it possible for them to stay home.

The bipartisan alignment on this issue, however brief, is a reminder that even in a polarized political climate, common ground can still be found when livelihoods and communities are at stake. proverbs 11:14 teaches that in the multitude of counselors there is safety, a principle that applies as much to the halls of Congress as anywhere else. Whether or not this particular legislation moves forward, the willingness of leaders across the aisle to set politics aside for the sake of working families is worth noting.

Let us pray for unity among lawmakers as they consider this legislation, for wisdom in crafting policy that truly benefits American workers, and for the many families whose livelihoods depend on the entertainment industry’s future in this country. Let us also pray for the leaders shaping this industry, that they would seek what is good and just for the workers they represent.

How are you praying about this issue? Share your prayers and scriptures in the comments below.

(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Adam Schiff, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79495123).