A Michigan House committee heard testimony on Tuesday on two bills that together would revive film credits, which have been defunct since 2015. The tax credit could take up to $2.075 billion from state coffers over a decade.

The legislation in question, House bills 4907 and 4908, would create a 30% tax credit for eligible film productions shot in Michigan. The credits are spelled out in House Bill 4908. They would cover up to 30% of “qualified spending.” Another 5% credit would apply if the production company or qualified personnel are women or minorities, per the House Fiscal Agency analysis.

The tax credits could cost Michigan at least nine figures a year for the next decade.

“For qualified productions that are at least 20 minutes in duration, the annual cap would be $100.0 million for the first three years, $150.0 million for the next three years, and $200.0 million for the final four years,” explains the House Fiscal Agency. No one production could receive more than 20% of the available credits in a year “unless the (Michigan film office) decides that a greater amount would be in the best economic interest of the state.”

James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, testified against the bills before the House Economic Development and Small Business Committee.

“This is not going to be successful,” Hohman told lawmakers, citing the earlier iteration of the film credits.

“When you look at the economic performance of the state of Michigan, you can see that this expenditure did result in a gain of a couple of hundred jobs in the film industry,” Hohman testified. “In exchange for $500 million, that’s a terrible cost-benefit. But more importantly, when you look at both the creation and the dissolution of the program, it resulted in no change in Michigan's overall job trends, which is something lawmakers ought to care a lot about.”

Lawmakers took no vote Tuesday. House bills 4907 and 4908 are tie-barred. Both bills must pass for either to be enacted into law.

The Senate oversight committee on Wednesday will consider a bill that would make Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act law apply to lawmakers and the governor’s office.

Senate Bill 670 was introduced by Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, and co-sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield. Though Democrats hold a 20-18 majority in the Senate, McBroom is listed as lead sponsor. It’s rare, since Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2023, that a Republican-introduced bill would advance.

Read it for yourself: Senate Bill 670 of 2023

McBroom told Michigan Capitol Confidential he views the bill as a move that “empowers the people and disempowers the government,” a trend he says is in line with constitutional government. It’s a trend he favors.

McBroom attributes his ability to work across the aisle to “good faith” he built up when Republicans held the majority, by not pushing power to the extreme.

“I knew we wouldn’t always be in the majority,” McBroom told CapCon.

McBroom said that before Michigan enacted limits in the early 1990s, people took a longer view, knowing that politics was cyclical.

“There’s more of a ‘get what I can while I can’ attitude with term limits,” McBroom said.

Senate Bill 670 would not only make lawmakers and the governor’s office subject to FOIA law, it would also make House and Senate leaders appoint a FOIA coordinator for each chamber.

McBroom introduced the bill on Nov. 9, but the Legislature closed for the year the following week. The bill carried over to 2024, the second half of the 102nd Legislature.

Senate Bill 670 is tie-barred with Senate Bill 669, which was introduced by Moss. Bill 669 fine-tunes the law, adding cyber security protections. It also largely exempts from FOIA law notes board members take for personal during public meetings.

Steve Delie, the Mackinac Center’s director of labor policy, noted that Michigan is an outlier among states, one of only two states that exempt lawmakers and governors from FOIA.

But Delie encouraged lawmakers to strengthen the bill before it passes, by allowing fewer exceptions to the law.

“Senate Bills 669 and 670 create a two-tiered system,” Delie told CapCon. “Under these bills, the governor and legislature each have access to a significant number of new exemptions that would provide these branches with greater privileges than those afforded to other public bodies.”

The Senate Committee on Oversight meets Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.