About the bills we are supporting

The Massachusetts Production Coalition and fellow industry stakeholders are supporting legislation to eliminate the “sunset” of the state’s Film & Television Production Incentive. The incentive program by current law expires at the end of 2022 – and with it the thousands of local jobs and small businesses supported by the film and television industry in Massachusetts. Read more about our campaign here.

Legislation has been filed to eliminate the sunset:


The process a bill takes to become law

  • Bills are filed in January for the 2021-2022 legislative session.

  • Supporters then ask other legislators to ‘Co-sponsor’ a bill.

  • Once filed, a bill is assigned a temporary ‘docket’ number – later it is assigned a formal bill number and sent to a Legislative Committee for review and consideration.

  • The assigned Legislative Committee will hold a public hearing in which they will be offered testimony in support of (and against) the legislation. A hearing can happen at anytime before the Committee’s deadline to vote on all the bills assigned to it.

  • After the hearing the Committee will review the bill. The Committee has 4 options:

1) vote it favorably to pass from Committee,

2) vote it unfavorably and should not pass,

3) put it in study,

4) put it on extension to continue to review.

We will be seeking a favorable vote from the Committee.

A Committee vote can happen anytime after a hearing takes place and before the Committee deadline to vote on bills during the legislative session.

  • For bills that receive a ‘favorable’ vote from Committee, they then move to the Chamber in which they started. House bills to the House, and Senate bills to the Senate.

    • Once in their Chamber, they must pass through the Steering and Policy Committee and receive 2 favorable votes to pass and be sent to the other Chamber. (For example: a House bill that comes out of Committee will need 2 additional votes by the House to then be sent to the Senate.)

    • Once a bill is passed by its originating Chamber, it goes to the other Chamber in which the same process takes place.

    • During this process, amendments (changes to the bill) can be offered, it can be re-drafted or altered. If there are differences in the House and Senate versions of the passed bills, they can try to be worked out informally, but if that can not happen, then a formal ‘Conference Committee’ is formed to resolve their differences.

  • Once a bill passes both the House and Senate Chambers it needs a final ‘enactment’ vote by each Chamber.

  • Once a bill is enacted it is sent to the Governor. The Governor has 10 days to sign the bill into law, veto it, or amend it and send it back to the Legislature.


    Please note! Like many aspects of civic and public life during the COVID-19 pandemic, the timeline for traditional processes can be subject to change.

Additional pathways a bill or initiative can become law

Important to note! During the legislative process a bill may be attached to another larger bill as a means of passing it. The bill could be attached as an amendment or rider to the larger bill. That larger bill must have relevance. That also changes the original bill’s number, as it is no longer a stand-alone bill.

Supporters of this cause may recall that over past sessions we have worked to pass or defeat amendments that were filed regarding the Film & Television Incentive program as part of larger bills, including the state’s annual budget. These pathways are still very much in play as the legislative session progresses.

Your participation matters!

It is a long and challenging process to change law. Numerous interests, differences of opinion and political ideology, press and media influence, all impact the legislative process. Building consensus among elected officials to change law requires tremendous effort and work to make legislators aware of the issues involved, to educate them about the problem and solution, and convince them to act. It is extremely important for your state Representative and state Senator to hear from you about why this issue matters.