‘Veep’ could leave Md. as series gets Calif. tax credits
Lawmakers say state fails to compete by offering similar incentives
The political comedy series “Veep,” which has been filmed the past four years in Columbia and elsewhere in Maryland, might be on the verge of pulling up stakes after landing $6.5 million in tax credits from California to shoot there.
An HBO spokeswoman said executives for the series, which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, are weighing their options and no decision has been made on where “Veep” will produce its fifth season.
“We are excited to have been accepted into the relocation program and are exploring our next steps,” said Cecile Cross-Plummer, referring to California’s effort to woo television series.
“Veep” is among four shows being filmed in other states that have been selected by California to receive tax credits under its expanded incentive program. The show, airing its fourth season, has promoted Louis-Dreyfus from vice president to the nation’s first woman chief executive.
In Maryland, a state film office spokeswoman and the business agent for a union representing studio mechanics said they have received no word from HBO on whether the series will move.
Democratic lawmakers supportive of TV and film production in Maryland say it will be a big loss if “Veep” departs, and they say the state is failing to compete for such projects by offering comparable tax credits.
Film tax credits generated intense controversy in Annapolis in 2014 after the producers of the Netflix political drama “House of Cards” threatened to relocate their sound stage from Harford County to another state unless it received more subsidies. Lawmakers did not agree to the amount “House of Cards” wanted, but the series decided to stay.
This year, some lawmakers sought to boost Maryland’s funding for film tax credits, but amid opposition settled for a bill that leaves it up to the Hogan administration to decide what incentives to offer.
Over its first three seasons, “Veep” received $13.9 million in tax credits, hired 3,069 Marylanders and used 2,886 businesses in the state, said Karen Bell Hood, a spokeswoman for Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development.
Del. Frank Turner, a Howard County Democrat, said the loss of “Veep” would be a blow to his East Columbia district, where the production has been filmed in the long-empty General Electric plant off Snowden River Parkway.
Turner, one of the House of Delegates’ leading proponents of the tax credit as vice chairman of the Ways & Means Committee, contended that if “Veep” leaves the state, it will be because Gov. Larry Hogan “dropped the ball.”
“He didn’t make a commitment,” Turner said.
The governor’s office declined to comment.
Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, a Howard County Democrat who sponsored the tax-credit bill this year, faulted the state’s failure to keep up as other states vie for film and TV productions with increasingly generous incentives. California lawmakers last year tripled the state’s film tax credit funding, to $330 million a year.
“The rest of the world’s watching,” said Kasemeyer, who chairs the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. “It’s a perception in this case that Maryland isn’t committed.”
Feeding the controversy was a report last year by the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services that questioned the economic benefits to the state from film tax credits. “Maryland has provided $62.5 million in tax credits between fiscal 2012 and 2016 while only receiving a fraction of the tax credit amounts back in revenues to the state and local governments,” legislative analysts told the General Assembly this year.
Kasemeyer said the criticism missed the point — that the tax credits support entertainment industry jobs that otherwise would leave the state.
Sen. Andrew A. Serafini, a Washington County Republican, said he does not believe the governor dropped the ball even if “Veep” decides to leave.
While it would be unfortunate to lose the film industry jobs, Serafini said, there are legitimate questions whether the tax credit is effective compared with incentives for manufacturing, biotech or other industries. He said film jobs are not “sticky” — that is, they move easily from one state to another.
“If you look at the cost per job of this credit, it’s one of the highest,” Serafini said. “You have to ask the question: If you apply these credits to other industries, would there be more stickiness or long-term stability?”
Del. Eric G. Luedtke, the lead sponsor of this year’s House bill to extend the tax credit, said the jobs lost if the show departs will be felt well beyond Howard County.
“If “Veep” is not replaced,” the Montgomery County Democrat warned, “the infrastructure that allowed Maryland to sustain a film industry could wither. The people who work there have very specific skill sets and they’ll leave.”