BATON ROUGE — Among the tax reforms Gov. Jeff Landry wants to implement during a special legislative session on the state's tax code is the accelerated rollback of film and television production tax credits.

One of the bills that includes that change, HB2, passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 79 to 19.

The bill would eliminate the state’s film tax credit program by changing the program’s end date from July 1, 2031, to June 30, 2025.

Several wide-ranging bills would modify how the state applies certain tax credits and deductions — as well as establish a flat rate for calculating income taxes for individuals, estates and trusts — and would "repeal a sales tax exclusion for certain purchases by motion picture production companies." 

"Proposed law retains present law but accelerates termination of the motion picture production tax credit," the law proposed in the state House of Representatives said.

The state's current tax incentive encouraging productions to film in Louisiana is a 25% tax credit with an investment of $300,000 or more. Filming outside of New Orleans, hiring residents on sets and using local visual effects can also increase the tax incentive percentage. The state now provides $150 million in tax credits.

"I know it's a huge industry here in Louisiana and I believe that it generates a lot of dollars for our economy," State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle (D-Baton Rouge) said. "As this process moves forward and the bill is possibly amended at different levels of the session then the numbers going to change. So the number may flex upward or downward."

Film production in Louisiana has garnered national attention over the last few years with films like A23's wrestling biopic "The Iron Claw," historical fiction adaptation "Where the Crawdads Sing" and experimental independent film "The Nickel Boys" being shot in the state.

A major production — Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" — was shot in and around Donaldsonville and is expected to premiere in 2025. 

Marcelle added that if a balance is not found, the termination of the tax incentives would be a huge loss for the state.

"Where is the balance between the amount of dollars and the amount of employees that they hire in order to support both issues," she said.

Representatives from Celtic Studios, a production facility in Baton Rouge where films like Tom Cruise-vehicle "Oblivion" and the final two "Twilight" movies were shot, said their executive director was at the capitol lobbying on the film industry's behalf. 

The bill would also reduce the corporate income tax to a flat rate of 5.5% in 2025, and 3.5% in the years following.