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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2168
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE STEINMEYER.
4075H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 620, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the Missouri
motion picture rebate incentive program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 620, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 620.4000, to read as follows:
620.4000. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri
2 Motion Pictur e Rebate Incentive Pr ogram".
3 2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
4 (1) "Department", the department of economic development;
5 (2) "Independent certified public accountant", any person that is in good
6 standing with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in all states in
7 which the person is licensed to practice accountancy;
8 (3) "Motion picture prod uction company", any person, corporation,
9 partnership, or other business entity engaged in the business of pro ducing a motion
10 pictur e, television pr ogram, strea ming series, documentary , or commer cial pr oduction,
11 in whole or in part, in this state;
12 (4) "Qualified motion pictur e pro duction pr oject", a motion picture pr oduced
13 by a motion picture prod uction company that is appr oved by the department and the
14 office of the Missouri film commission established under section 620.1210 that:
15 (a) Featur es a statement and logo designated by the department in the cred its of
16 the completed prod uction indicating that the pr oduction was filmed in Missouri; and
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (b) Is under thirty minutes in length with expected qualifying expenses in excess
18 of fifty thousand dollars or is over thirty minutes in length with expected qualifying
19 expenses in excess of one hundr ed thousand dollars.
20
21 Regardless of the pr oduction costs, a qualified motion picture prod uction pr oject shall
22 not include any:
23 a. News or curr ent events pr ogramming;
24 b. T alk show;
25 c. Pr oduction prod uced primarily for industrial, corporate, or institutional
26 purposes, and for internal use;
27 d. Sports event or sports pr ogram;
28 e. Gala present ation or awards show;
29 f. Infomer cial or any pr oduction that dir ectly solicits funds;
30 g. Political ad; or
31 h. Pr oduction that is consider ed obscene, as defined in section 573.010;
32 (5) "Qualifying expenses", the sum of the total costs dir ectly spent in this state
33 for the following by a motion picture prod uction company in connection with a qualified
34 motion pictur e pr oduction pr oject:
35 (a) Goods and services leased or pur chased by the motion picture prod uction
36 company from Missouri vendors. For goods with a pur chase price of twenty-five
37 thousand dollars or mor e, the amount included in qualifying expenses shall be the
38 pur chase price less the fair market value of the goods at the time the prod uction is
39 completed;
40 (b) Lodging;
41 (c) Catering;
42 (d) Set construction;
43 (e) Compensation and wages paid by the motion pictur e prod uction company on
44 which the motion pictur e pr oduction company r emitted withholding payments to the
45 department of reven ue under chapter 143 for Missouri res idents. For purposes of this
46 section, compensation and wages paid to all above-the-line individuals shall be limited to
47 twenty-five per cent of the overall qualifying expenses; and
48 (f) Post-pr oduction services.
49 3. (1) A motion pictur e pro duction company shall submit an application for
50 r ebate to the department on a form appr oved by the department. The application shall
51 be completed in its entiret y and include the information re quir ed by the department.
52 (2) The department shall establish the proce dures and standards for the
53 determination and appr oval of an application for reba te.
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54 (3) The department may appr ove an application for r ebate of up to thirty
55 per cent of qualifying expenses incurr ed in this state by a motion picture prod uction
56 company .
57 (4) The department may award an additional reba te of five percen t to a motion
58 pictur e pr oduction company if the department determines that at least seventy-five
59 per cent of the prod uction cast and crew , excluding principal talent, ar e Missouri
60 r esidents, or if at least seventy-five per cent of pr oduction days occur outside of the
61 Kansas City and St. Louis metr opolitan statistical ar eas as delineated by the United
62 States Office of Management and Budget.
63 (5) Based upon the department's review and verification of the cost rep ort as
64 indicated in subdivision (2) of subsection 6 of this section.
65 4. (1) The total amount of reb ates authorized under this section shall not exceed
66 thirty-five million dollars of the moneys appr opriated by the general assembly , per fiscal
67 year .
68 (2) No single qualified motion pictur e pr oduction pr oject shall be eligible to
69 r eceive mor e than twenty-five percen t of the annual appr opriation cap established
70 under subdivision (1) of this subsection in any fiscal year .
71 (3) Any unused rebate funds may be carried forward and made available in the
72 subsequent fiscal year , pr ovided that the annual appr opriation cap established under
73 subdivision (1) of this subsection is not exceeded.
74 5. Rebates shall be consider ed expenditures of the state government and shall
75 not be deemed to be tax credi ts or tax expenditur es.
76 6. (1) Each motion picture pr oduction company applying for a r ebate under this
77 section shall submit to the department a cost r eport certified by an independent certified
78 public accountant re lating to an appr oved qualified motion pictur e prod uction pr oject.
79 The cost r eport shall include detailed qualifying expenses that wer e incurr ed by the
80 motion pictur e pr oduction company within the twelve-month time period after
81 completion of the qualified motion pictur e pr oduction pr oject.
82 (2) The department shall r eview the cost rep ort submitted by the motion pictur e
83 pr oduction company , verify compliance, and issue the r ebate solely based upon the
84 department's determination of actual qualifying expenses.
85 7. The department shall compile and publish a full re port for submission to the
86 general assembly and the governor by January fifteenth of each year . The r eport shall
87 include the following:
88 (1) The total number of qualifying motion picture pr oduction projects appr oved;
89 (2) The total amount of qualifying expenses;
90 (3) The number of Missouri r esidents employed; and
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91 (4) The geographic distribution of expenditur es.
92 8. (1) Ther e is her eby creat ed in the state trea sury the "Motion Pictur e
93 Pr oduction Fund", which shall consist of moneys, subject to appr opriation by the
94 general assembly , for purposes set forth in this section, and any gifts, contributions,
95 grants, or bequests rec eived fr om federal, private, or other sources . The state tre asurer
96 shall be custodian of the fund. In accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state
97 tr easur er may appr ove disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon
98 appr opriation, moneys in this fund shall be used solely as pro vided in this section.
99 (2) Notwithstanding the pro visions of section 33.080 to the contrary , any moneys
100 r emaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not r evert to the credit of the
101 general reven ue fund.
102 (3) The state tre asurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as
103 other funds ar e invested. Any interes t and moneys earned on such investments shall be
104 cr edited to the fund.
105 9. The department may pr omulgate all necessary rules and r egulations for the
106 administration of this section including, but not limited to, application proced ures,
107 auditing requ irem ents, and standards for verifying qualifying expenses. Any rule or
108 portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the
109 authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is
110 subject to all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This
111 section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the
112 general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to revie w , to delay the effective date, or to
113 disappr ove and annul a rule ar e subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of
114 rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be
115 invalid and void.
116 10. (1) The pr ovisions of this section shall expir e on December 31, 2036, unless
117 r eauthorized by the general assembly .
118 (2) Applications for re bate appr oved by the department prior to December 31,
119 2036, may r eceive rebates under this section, pr ovided that the qualifying expenses ar e
120 completed and submitted to the department before December 31, 2037.
121 1 1. The pr ovisions of this section shall become effective beginning on July 1,
122 2027.
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