Federal tax incentives
Hollywood’s top legislative priority is to pass a federal tax incentive by the end of the year. The bill is bipartisan — uniting Trump and Adam Schiff — so in theory, a looming change of party control shouldn’t affect it.
But any disruption — and the election was a massive disruption — probably doesn’t help build momentum. It also doesn’t help that Trump seems to be wavering, telling a rally last Friday that people in Hollywood are “all calling me kissing my ass” for tax credits. “I’ll probably do it. Should I do it?” he asked the crowd, which booed. “We’ll have to think about it.”
Democrats are more supportive of Hollywood than Republicans are, so the odds may improve in the 120th Congress. But that would require starting over. Out of the 31 Republican cosponsors in the House and Senate, 10 will not be back next year. The bill also benefits from the idea of a crisis requiring immediate action — which could be hard to sustain over a longer legislative process. “The iron is very hot right now,” Schiff said in September. “We’re all very focused on this. The president is focused on this. I wouldn’t want to see that bleed into next year.”
FCC Oversight
PBS and NPR
With Democrats in charge, there’s at least the possibility of restoring the funding, though it would require a sidequest into the culture wars, as conservatives see NPR and PBS as vehicles of leftwing bias and indoctrination.
Investigations
