Whats happening with US Congressional legislation?
Two major pieces of pre-9/11 legislation related to film and television production are before Congress. On December 7, 2001 the House passed HR 3019, the Comprehensive Trade Negotiating Authority Act of 2001, which grants fast-track authority to the president to negotiate trade treaties without the prior approval of a highly bi-partisan Congress. This bill was strongly supported by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of America (RIIA). The bill went before the Democrat-controlled Senate as S 136 IS in January 2002 for vote before it goes to the White House for approval. For HR 3131, the Independent Film and Television Production Incentive Act a bill introduced to the House to fight runaway production by providing a wage-based tax credit for productions with budgets under $10 million to level the playing field against productions receiving foreign incentives lobbyists had lined up 11 co-sponsors in the House. With its Senate companion bill
