Oregon State Senate Votes to Continue Financial Benefit to Oregon Film Industry

The bill allows a rebate of up to 6.2 percent of payroll for businesses with at least $1 million of production expenses in Oregon.

By Walker MacMurdo

If you're involved in film and video production and have a budget of at least one million dollars: We have some good news for you.

Yesterday, the Oregon Senate approved HB 2244, which continues state support of Greenlight Oregon Rebate Labor, a program that allows big budget productions to get some sweet cash back for spending at least a million bucks in Oregon. The bill was greenlit by a vote of 22-8.

The program allows the Oregon Film and Video Office to deduct expenses related to workforce training and education from rebate amounts. The Senate voted to extend the program to January 2, 2024—it other wise would have expired at the end of this year. The video now heads to Gov. Brown for signature.

"The film and video industry has become a burgeoning new job creator in our state over the past several years," said Sen. Chuck Riley (D-Hillsboro), who carried the bill. "This will encourage more large-scale productions in the state and also incent workforce development activities in the industry. This is good for this business segment and it's good for Oregon."

What does this mean in practice? It continues to be a little cheaper for bigger productions to film in Oregon, meaning more jobs in the Oregon film and video industries.

And one more detail: the bill also expands the definition of "qualifying film production" to include one time sporting events or groups of events "of national or international significance." Portland Summer Olympics 2024?

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