Just saw this bit of good news over on the Seattle Office of Film and Music blog: The state House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed legislation (92-6) renewing filmmaking incentives in Washington, putting the bill on Gov. Gregoire’s desk. If approved, the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program—which expired last June and had languished in committees until recently—will be reinstated through July 1, 2017, granting rebates to movies, television shows, and commercials in production in the state of Washington.

This is big. Without carrots to dangle, the state has been losing business to Vancouver, which has a robust incentives program and, of late, has drawn high-profile indie films (50/50 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and TV shows (AMC’s The Killing) despite their being "set" in Seattle. Under the amended bill E2SSB 5539, nonprofit Washington FilmWorks can continue to reimburse in-state spending by production teams—now up to 35 percent if a TV show sticks around for six or more episodes. Rather than offering tax breaks like so many states (39 in the U.S. have some kind of incentive plan), this program only pays out if filmmakers invest locally.

Gov. Gregoire has 20 days to sign the bill into law.