Staff Reports
President Donald Trump publicly urged Congress this week to pass a federal production tax incentive for movies and TV. In a surprise twist, Senator Adam Schiff (D-California) said he “strongly agrees,” turning what could have been a partisan fight into a rare moment of bipartisan nodding. The real story is not the feel-good unity — it’s how Washington plans to spend more tax dollars to chase production rigs and lights back to American soil.
Why this matters: Hollywood jobs are leaving
Industry leaders and lawmakers say a big share of U.S. films and scripted TV shows are now being shot overseas. Senator Schiff’s office says nearly half of recent projects were filmed abroad and that tens of thousands of entertainment jobs in the Los Angeles area have been lost. The Motion Picture Association quickly welcomed the president’s call, saying a federal credit could help bring shoots and workers back to the U.S. That’s the pitch: protect good-paying crew jobs and keep production spending inside America instead of sending it to other countries.
What a federal production tax incentive would look like
Lawmakers and industry folks are debating design now. Some drafts floated in hearings talk about a mid-teens percent credit, while some industry groups push a roughly 20% labor-focused credit. The idea is the federal credit would “stack” on top of state credits, making U.S. production more competitive versus places that already hand out large incentives. Critics rightly ask: who pays for the new credit, and how do we stop it from becoming an open-ended subsidy machine?
Conservative cautions — and a better way
Conservatives should be skeptical of any federal program that looks like another industry giveaway. That said, protecting American jobs is a valid goal. The right approach is to demand strict guardrails: require that credits favor American labor, tie benefits to real job creation, include a short sunset clause, and pay for the program with offsetting reforms or spending cuts. No more blank checks. If Washington can’t set clear rules, the program will be hijacked by special interests and state stacking schemes — and taxpayers will be left footing the bill for red carpets abroad.
Wrap-up: Turn a bipartisan moment into a common-sense win
This unexpected agreement between President Donald Trump and Senator Adam Schiff is a chance to fix a real economic problem. Republicans should not reflexively oppose an idea simply because a Democrat supports it — but they should insist the plan be conservative in practice. Make the incentive work for American workers, make it temporary so Congress can measure results, and make sure taxpayers get a fair deal. If Washington can do that, bringing the lights back to Hollywood might actually be worth the price.
