One Texas lawmaker wants to get rid of the Texas Film Commission. The commission receives millions of dollars from the state budget for incentives to bring projects to Texas.
State Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, says he plans to file legislation again this session in his third effort to get rid of the film commission.
The commission has received $32 million for the next two years.
Shaheen said on his Facebook page that his latest effort comes as a result of sexual harassment allegations regarding movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
"Now we are taking dollars and using it for an industry that has been covering assaults apparently for decades," Shaheen said.
NBC 5 political reporter Julie Fine asked Shaheen if any large company facing a harassment claim should get incentives to come to Texas.
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"The way I am looking at it is, is this an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars or not? So I am literally taking taxpayer money from single moms or victims of sexual assault, and I am giving them to an industry, I am giving them to individuals, that, you know, have covered up sexual assault. So the problem that I have is I am forcibly taking taxpayer dollars and giving it to this industry," Shaheen said.
Shaheen also says he believes the jobs created by the program are temporary and adds concerns that movies about Texas aren't always made in the state.
A spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott's office says that no money from the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive program has been used for a Harvey Weinstein project. To date, the program has generated $1.33 billion of in-state spending and has created 151,938 jobs.
It is a program that is very important to John Schrimpf, general manager of Panavision Dallas, and the board president of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance.
"It is a very unfortunate event, obviously, this happened, but to blame a Texas film business for the actions of a Harvey Weinstein is just not right, and to close the film program is affecting video game development and the film business for money that is only spent on Texas workers and Texas businesses, that's it," Schrimpf said.
