When naming some of Texas’ biggest industries, a few might come to mind. Oil, gas, weird rockets. But you hardly ever hear of Hollywood productions. Now, the Texas Legislature is trying to change that, with the help of a casual billion dollars.
On Monday, the Texas House voted 114-26 on the Matthew McConaughey-approved “film incentive bill,” which would spend a whopping $1.5 billion trying to attract filmmakers to the state in the next few years.
Senate Bill 22, which was filed in March by Houston Sen. Joan Huffman, proposed a $500 million influx of cash — spent biennially, for the next decade — to a statewide film incentive fund, The Texas Tribune first reported.
After it passed in the Texas Senate, the bill was debated in the House, and ultimately passed on Monday with a much cheaper cost of $300 million. For the next 10 years, that pool of money could offset expenses on Texas-made films and television shows, including workers’ wages and travel costs, according to the Tribune.
It will ultimately be up to the governor to decide which Texas-made projects will get the incentives, because ladies and gentleman, in Texas we clutch our pearls at anything that’s “not of God.” Some lawmakers are concerned about keeping taxpayer-funded projects “family friendly.” For example, Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt argued that shows with profanity, like the West Texas drama “Landman” — which he called “simply a bad product” — should not receive taxpayer dollars.
“No offense, having Billy Bob Thornton f-bomb every sentence is not Texas values,” said Bettencourt, who has clearly never driven on Houston’s I-10 during rush hour.
The bill enforces further limitations on the type of materials permitted to receive funding: no pornography, “casino-type video games,” sporting events, awards shows, projects created for student course credit, political advertising or news programming, to name a few.
Another no-no? Content that “portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” Some have not taken kindly to this alleged overstep on free expression, lamenting the bill’s “chilling effect on artistic expression … [and] acceptable speech in the entertainment industry,” according to the research organization, Texas Policy Research.
But a thousand miles away, it seems Hollywood hasn’t gotten the memo yet. The bill has amassed support from mega-stars like Thornton, McConaughey, Renee Zellweger, and Woody Harrelson, who released a four-minute commercial (filmed in Texas, of course) about turning the state into “a new Hollywood,” the Tribune reported in February. Texas-grown McConaughey and Harrelson even visited their old stomping grounds, voicing their thoughts in front of the Senate Committee on Finance.
“Texas also has a backdrop of so many different geographies that could be the backdrop of so many different stories, that no other state could even match,” McConaughey testified, according to an April CBS News report. “And we’re not utilizing it.”
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have praised the celebrity-supported bill for its efforts to bring “Texas values and Texas stories to the world,” just weeks after President Donald Trump called for a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films. Save for the cost deliberations, the bill passed comfortably — but not without a few critics.
Rep. David Lowe, who lobbied against the bill, called it “Hollywood handouts.” Rep. Brian Harrison, who also voted against the bill, posted “Texans, you’ve been betrayed…” on X, hours before it passed in the House. (For what it’s worth, supporters have said the money would not go toward “fat cat Hollywood guys.”)
“This bill provides taxpayer-funded incentives to the film and entertainment industry,” Lowe said. “The same industry that trashed us for supporting President Trump, mocked us for standing up for the unborn, and ridiculed our Christian faith at every opportunity.”
The folks over on Elon Musk’s own “family friendly” platform, X, are also angry (as usual). “Corporate welfare for Hollywood stars,” one proclaimed.
“Anyone who votes for SB 22 wants to turn Texas blue with this garbage legislation,” said another.
Sorry, Hollywood. Looks like there’s still debate on whether it’s Texas’ turn to make film great again.
