SB 22 - Corporate welfare for Hollywood

SB 22 sets up a massive, taxpayer-funded grant program to subsidize movies, TV shows, and digital media projects made in Texas. It takes $500 million every two years from state sales taxes and deposits it into a special fund outside the state treasury. The Governor’s office uses this fund to hand out grants to entertainment companies. The program runs until 2035 and is projected to cost taxpayers over half a billion dollars every two years. The bill undermines core principles of limited government, creates a large, recurring carve-out from essential state revenues, and prioritizes corporate welfare for Hollywood-style projects over pressing taxpayer needs like tax relief. For these reasons, TFR strongly opposes SB 22.