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Film tax credit negotiations stall; conference committee defers bill

3142197 · April 26, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Conference conferees said they reached no agreement on the film tax credit (SB 732 SD2 HD2) and deferred the measure after months of negotiation over changes to the program and its cap.

Conference conferees announced Friday that they could not reach agreement on SB 732 SD2 HD2, a bill to modify Hawaii’s film industry tax credit, and the bill was deferred.

Senate conferees explained the bill would have raised the annual cap on the film tax credit from $50 million to $60 million and included other changes intended to support industry jobs and local economic activity. House conferees said they were unable to accept several changes in the conference draft, and the managers on the House side noted the tax‑credit provisions were the primary sticking point.

The committee discussion included expressions of disappointment from members who cited the bill’s importance to local film industry workers and related businesses. A senator summarized the outcome by saying there was no agreement on behalf of the House and that the measure was being deferred. Another conferee thanked colleagues for their work and said the bill’s failure to reach agreement was “a shame” for local families who rely on the industry.

The transcript does not record a conference vote on the measure; conferees stated the bill was deferred and that they would not move it forward in this session’s conference schedule.

The meeting proceeded to other agenda items after conferees announced the deferral.