California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton agreed on the need for tax incentives to keep or lure production back to Hollywood, but they still sparred over who bears responsibility for the flight of tens of thousands of jobs from the state.
Meeting in Burbank for a CNN debate, Becerra, a Democrat, and Hilton, a Republican, were asked by co-moderator Jake Tapper how far they would go on incentives, labor and permitting issues to keey production in California.
“We’ve lost some 50,000 jobs in Los Angeles and California from the film and movie industry, these are middle class jobs,” Becerra said. “I’m not talking about the high paid actors. I’m talking about the grips, the camera people, the people who build the sets. They make a decent living. Those jobs have left. We’ve got to fight to keep Hollywood in Hollywood. And I’ve said I’ll do everything I can to make sure that happens. Here’s the rule, pretty simple. If we give a tax credit, so long as we get more than $1 back for that dollar in tax credit, we’re going to do it because Hollywood belongs here.”
Hilton responded, “Who’s been in charge when all those jobs have gone?”
Becerra interrupted, “Donald Trump.”
Hilton said, “The Democrats have been in charge for 16 years as the jobs have gone, the industries have gone, and this city, this iconic industry, is on the brink of collapse.”
He added, “My plan to bring Hollywood home would make us competitive with the best in the world and reduce the bureaucracy and the red tape, which also has been piled on by Xavier and his friends.”
Becerra said that when he was in Congress, he was part of the team “that enacted the first federal tax credit for film and movie production.”
Becerra said, “Steve, I was there 20 years ago when you weren’t even in California.”
While Becerra and Hilton sought to score with attack lines on the other, the candidates didn’t do is offer much in the way of specifics. Nor did they address the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, with a federal judge approving a consent decree earlier on Wednesday, or a recently proposed bill to establish a much more robust 20% federal film incentive.
Becerra is the former secretary of health and human services under Joe Biden, and former attorney general of California. Hilton is former Fox News commentator and host, and served as an aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron.
During the one hour debate, the candidates also tussled over immigration, ICE enforcement, health care and the environment, with Hilton trying to tar Becerra as a creature of failed Democratic state majority rule and Becerra seeking to link Hilton to Donald Trump and the president’s unpopular policies.
