Musicians Chris Anderson-Bazzoli and Blake Cooper with Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo at a recent legislative visit in support of a California music-scoring tax credit.

Last year we had a bill, AB 1300 (Calderon), which was narrowly focused on modifying the existing Tax Credit Program to include a music-scoring tax credit.

This year, a new bill, AB 1734 (Calderon), aims to renew the entire Film and TV Tax Credit Program. We are working with Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon on how to include language in the overall renewal that will address the loss of jobs in the scoring industry.

With a new legislative session in full swing, we have re-doubled our efforts to win a tax credit that specifically targets film scoring projects. Here’s what we’ve been doing:

Visits to state legislators
Musicians have been meeting with members of the state assembly to lay out the urgent case for tax credits to prevent the loss of scoring employment.

Building our coalition
With the help of members involved in schools, youth programs and other organizations with a connection to music, we are recruiting support for the tax credit effort from all corners of our communities.

Making it personal
The public and our elected officials need to see the face of this industry, that’s why musicians are writing individual letters to their state legislators and telling their stories about the difficulty of making a living as a freelance musician. Local 47 is asking members to be profiled to talk about the realities of the industry for a work-a-day musician.

Please sign up to be involved. We will be asking folks to write letters and attend visits to local legislators so we can generate more good union employment for musicians.

KeepingTheScoreCA.org