AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following the passage of Senate Bill 22, Generating Significant Returns for the Texas Economy, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston:

“Texas is the nation’s number one leader in job creation year after year. Our business-friendly environment with low regulation, lack of state income tax, plentiful workforce, and reasonable incentive packages attract businesses of all types to our great state.

“The Texas Film Commission was created in 1971 and the film incentive was added in 2007. In the last two years, an audit of productions in Texas, including movies, TV shows, and commercials, discovered that for every dollar spent on incentives for the film industry, nearly five dollars was generated for the Texas economy. That is an incredible nearly 500% return on the state’s incentive package. The incentive money is only spent on expenses incurred in Texas and goes to the Texas residents hired to do the many jobs on a film set, including carpenters, painters, electricians, truck drivers, and more. In a Senate Committee on Finance hearing, the director of ‘The Chosen’, a series about Jesus, testified that the production spent $70 million and created over 1,000 jobs in Midlothian and East Texas over the last few years.

“The production incentive is an opportunity for us to export Texas faith and family values to the rest of America and the world while growing our economy and enriching Texas workers.”

Senate Bill 22, by Sen. Joan Huffman, codifies rules for the Texas Film Commission into law.