Pennsylvania SB 928: An Act amending the act of January 25, 1966 (1965 P.L.1542, No.538), entitled "An act creating a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, for the encouragement and development of the various arts, and making an appropriation therefor," establishing the Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program and the Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program Account; and making a repeal.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 1063
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 928
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY BARTOLOTTA, FONTANA, COSTA, FARRY AND ROBINSON,
JULY 23, 2025
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JULY 23, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of January 25, 1966 (1965 P.L.1542, No.538),
entitled "An act creating a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Council on the Arts, for the encouragement and development of
the various arts, and making an appropriation therefor,"
establishing the Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program and
the Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program Account; and
making a repeal.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of January 25, 1966 (1965 P.L.1542,
No.538), entitled "An act creating a Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, for the encouragement and
development of the various arts, and making an appropriation
therefor," is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 5.1. (a) The Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant
Program is established within the council to provide grants in
accordance with this section. The program shall be administered
by the council. The council shall have the following duties:
(1) Develop and establish criteria for the program,
including all of the following:
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(i) An application form for a grant.
(ii) A process for the following:
(A) The submittal and review of a completed application form
for a grant, including a timeline for making a determination to
award the grant and notice of the award of the grant.
(B) The disbursement of a grant.
(C) The general management of the program, including the
maintenance of records regarding grants.
(2) Submit the criteria for the program to the Legislative
Reference Bureau for publication in the next available issue of
the Pennsylvania Bulletin and post the criteria on the council's
publicly accessible Internet website.
(3) Advertise the availability of the program to potential
applicants in a manner designed to maximize participation by
eligible Pennsylvania film producers.
(b) The council may award grants to an eligible Pennsylvania
film producer for the following purposes:
(1) Costs associated with site preparation and set
construction for filming a film project.
(2) Costs associated with hiring crew members for filming a
fi lm project.
(3) Any other costs that meet the criteria established by
the council under subsection (a) for producing a film project by
a P ennsylvania film producer.
(c) To qualify for a grant, a film producer shall meet the
following requ irements:
(1) The film producer shall maintain its principal place of
business in this Commonwealth.
(2) The film project for which the grant is sought shall be
filmed entirely within this Commonwealth.
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(d) The Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program Account is
established as a restricted account within the General Fund.
Money in the restricted account is appropriated on a continuing
basis to the council for the award of grants under this section.
(e) All money appropriated, allocated or donated to the
restricted account, including money received from the
Commonwealth, private entities or other sources, shall be
deposited into the restricted account.
(f) Interest earned from the investment of money in the
restricted account shall be deposited into the restricted
account and used for the purposes specified under subsection
(d).
(g) At the end of each fiscal year, money remaining in the
restricted account that is unexpended, unencumbered or
uncommitted shall lapse and be transferred to the General Fund.
(h) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Council." T he Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the
Arts.
"Eligible Pennsylvania film producer." A film producer that
meets the requirements under subsection (c).
"Film." A feature film, a television film, a television talk
or game show series, a television commercial or a television
pilot or each episode of a television series which is intended
as programming for a national audience. The term does not
include a production featuring news, current events, weather and
market reports, public programming, sports events, awards shows
or other gala events, a production that solicits funds, a
production containing obscene material or performances as
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defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 5903(b) (relating to obscene and other
sexual materials and performances) or a production primarily for
private, political, industrial, corporate or institutional
purposes.
"Program." The Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant Program
established under subsection (a).
"Restricted account." The Pennsylvania Film Producer Grant
P