Go ahead and lift a glass and drink to elimination of the onerous five year sunset clause that would’ve killed Illinois’ hard-earned film incentives film.
Senate Bill 398, that gives the Illinois film tax credit a 10 year sunset, renewable every five years, passed the full Senate late Wednesday afternoon and will go to the House for a final vote next week.
Before moving to the Senate floor, the Senate Revenue Committee voted 8-0 to approve SB 396, a so-called “trailer bill” that overrides the sunset clause that was tacked onto Senate Bill 4, which contained a multitude of sunsets for other types of Illinois industries.
“Needless to say, I am very relieved,” says a smiling Mark Hogan, IPA president Local 476 business manager, who went to Springfield Tuesday and Wednesday with IPA members DGA’s Dan Moore, Local 600’s Justin Conway and Essanay’s Wayne Kubacki.
The three testified before the Senate Revenue Committee.
“The story is that Gov. Pat Quinn’s people at DCEO, in negotiation with House Speaker Mike Madigan, felt that five year sunsets were appropriate and jumped to the conclusion it wouldn’t hurt the film industry.”
What bothered Hogan and a lot of people was that no one in the legislature consulted with industry leaders. “Fortunately, we had tremendous help from John Coli of the Teamsters and Joint Council 25 that got Senate president John Cullerton to listen to us,” he says.
Hundreds of film people rallied over the past week and sent their phones, fax machines and Emails into overtime contacting their state senators, who were largely clueless about the sunset clause amendment and the damage it would cause thousands of workers and businesses if SB4 passed.
The office of Sen. Iris Martinez of the 20th District on the Northwest Side, in particular, was inundated with hundreds of calls from film workers who live in her district.
Martinez assistant told producer Michelle DeLong they knew nothing about the bill. She was, however, quick to the realize the seriousness of the issue and collected the facts to inform Martinez. In turn, Martinez notified Cullerton, who helped turn it around.
“Credit for the passage of SB 398 goes to everyone,” says Hogan. “It was a true group effort and it worked.”
