2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · Senate bill

SB22

SB22 changes the Texas moving-image grant program and creates a fund outside the treasury.

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Official caption: Relating to the Texas moving image industry incentive program and the establishment and funding of the Texas moving image industry incentive fund.

Became law without signatureSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Huffman. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

SB22 changes the Texas moving-image grant program and creates a fund outside the treasury.
The bill became law without the governor’s signature on June 22, 2025.
The minimum Texas spending remains $250,000 for film/television and $100,000 for commercials, educational/instructional videos and digital interactive media.
For this program, a Texas resident must have resided here since the 120th day before principal photography begins.
Base grants are calculated from eligible in-state spending.
Additional grants equal 2.5% of eligible Texas spending for each qualifying Texas-heritage, rural-filming, Texas-veteran, faith-based, Texas-historic-site or workforce-development category; the postproduction add-on is 1%.

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What does it do?

Dedicated funding for film, television and other productions

SB22 changes the Texas moving-image grant program and creates a fund outside the treasury. The comptroller must deposit $300 million of existing sales-and-use-tax receipts by the 30th day of each state fiscal biennium—every two years, not annually. The Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company holds and invests the fund; the governor’s Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Office administers grants. Money may be spent without a separate legislative appropriation, but only on program grants and the trust company’s asset-management expenses. This redirects revenue; it does not raise the sales-tax rate. final law, Sections 2.02–2.03 and 2.07.

The bill became law without the governor’s signature on June 22, 2025. Most changes took effect September 1, 2025, with the rollback described below scheduled for 2035. Official history; final law, Articles 3–4.

Eligibility and grant rates

The minimum Texas spending remains $250,000 for film/television and $100,000 for commercials, educational/instructional videos and digital interactive media. At least 60% of the project must be filmed in Texas, and spending must be documented. The required Texas-resident share of crew, actors and extras falls from the previous 55% to 35% for principal photography beginning September 2025–August 2027, then rises to 40% in September 2027, 45% in September 2029 and 50% in September 2031. The written waiver when sufficient qualified people are unavailable remains. final law, Section 485.023.

For this program, a Texas resident must have resided here since the 120th day before principal photography begins. Grants remain based on completed, verified Texas spending—not an unrestricted percentage of the whole production budget. The existing wage-exclusion rule addresses wages “that exceed $1 million”; it should be consulted when calculating eligible pay rather than assuming every star’s full salary qualifies. Section 485.021, September 1, 2025 text; Section 485.022, September 1, 2025 text; Section 485.024, September 1, 2025 text.

Base grants are calculated from eligible in-state spending. Feature films, non-reality television and their visual-effects projects receive 5% at $250,000 to below $1 million, 10% at $1 million to below $1.5 million, and 25% at $1.5 million or more. Digital interactive media uses the same 10% and 25% tiers, but its 5% tier starts at $100,000. Reality television receives 5% at $250,000 to below $1 million and 10% at $1 million or more. Commercials, educational/instructional videos and their visual-effects projects receive 5% at $100,000 to below $1 million and 10% at $1 million or more. final law, Section 485.024.

Seven possible add-ons, with a combined ceiling

Additional grants equal 2.5% of eligible Texas spending for each qualifying Texas-heritage, rural-filming, Texas-veteran, faith-based, Texas-historic-site or workforce-development category; the postproduction add-on is 1%. Projects may qualify for several, but all grants combined cannot exceed 31% of total in-state spending. This is not an automatic 31% payment to every applicant. final law, Section 485.025.

Texas-heritage designation is discretionary and considers family values or a positive portrayal of Texas and Texans. Faith-based designation is also discretionary under office rules. Rural filming requires at least 35% of filming days or work hours, as applicable under rules, in a Texas county with 300,000 residents or fewer. Postproduction requires at least 25% of in-state spending on eligible postproduction costs. The veteran add-on requires at least 5% of crew, actors and extras to be Texas residents honorably discharged from the military services, Texas National Guard or reserve components specifically listed in the act. final law, Section 485.025(b)–(f).

The historic-site add-on requires using Texas historic sites as filming locations. The workforce-development add-on requires a partnership with a Texas higher-education institution offering industry workforce opportunities during production. Office rules implement both categories. final law, Section 485.025(g)–(h).

Content review and management

Meeting spending thresholds does not guarantee a grant. The office retains authority to deny or decline to act on applications, including because of inappropriate content or negative portrayals of Texas or Texans. It reviews proposed content at the preliminary stage and final content before payment, and may rescind preliminary approval at any point. final law, Article 1 and Section 485.022; Section 485.022, September 1, 2025 text.

Express exclusions cover pornography/obscenity; news, current-events and public-access programming; political advertising and specified public-policy announcements; weather/market-report programs; local events or religious services; productions not intended for commercial, educational or instructional distribution; sporting events or activities; awards shows, galas, telethons and similar fundraising programs; course-credit projects; application/system software or middleware; casino-type games and specified gambling-device media; and advertising for Texas state government. The office may exclude other project types too. A faith-based film designation does not erase the separate religious-service exclusion. final law, Section 485.022(f)–(g).

The fund also may receive other legislative money, dedicated revenues, earnings and donations. Investments must follow a prudent-investor standard and aim to preserve purchasing power while maintaining needed liquidity. The office supplies annual cash-flow forecasts and updates, and directs disbursements; management expenses are paid from the fund. final law, Section 485.0225.

The scheduled 2035 rollback

The fund and recurring tax transfer expire August 31, 2035; unencumbered, unspent money returns to general revenue. From September 1, 2035, the act restores the 55% resident threshold, rule-based grant calculations and appropriated-funds-only grants, the prior final-script review, and the former 2.5% add-on for at least 25% of filming days in an underutilized/economically distressed area. It does not abolish the underlying grant program. Awards made September 2025–August 2035 remain governed by the applicable law in effect when awarded; the new 2035 regime governs later awards. final law, Article 3.

What changed along the way?

How the final package differs from proposals

The Senate committee substitute kept the existing $250,000 film/TV minimum instead of the introduced bill’s proposed $500,000. It lowered the spending threshold for the 25% film/non-reality-TV and digital-media tier from $5 million to $1.5 million, added the veteran bonus, set the overall 31% ceiling, expanded express office discretion and removed a proposed limit on disbursement frequency. Those were committee changes, not floor amendments. Five posted versions; final law.

All three indexed floor amendments were adopted and survived. Huffman’s Senate F1 added the discretionary faith-based bonus. The House committee text retained the engrossed substance. Martinez Fischer’s House second-reading amendment 1 added historic-site and workforce-development bonuses. Hunter’s House third-reading amendment 1 cut the recurring transfer from $500 million to $300 million per biennium. Amendment index and outcomes; final law.

The Senate concurred May 28; no conference report was needed. The final $300 million transfer must not be replaced with the $500 million in earlier proposals. Existing authority to reject inappropriate or negative-Texas content predates SB22; the act preserves it while adding explicit categories and preliminary/final-review provisions. Official history; final law.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

Who may gain, and what it costs

Eligible production companies gain a dedicated funding stream and statutory grant formulas. Texas workers, vendors, rural locations, historic sites and workforce-training partners may gain production activity, but spending and job growth are not guaranteed. Initially lowering the Texas-resident threshold gives producers more hiring flexibility while reducing the share of local labor required for eligibility. Content-based exclusions and discretionary approval mean not all productions receive equal access to grants. final law.

The May 27 final fiscal note estimates a $301,509,969 negative impact on general-revenue-related funds for fiscal 2026–27: $300 million redirected to the incentive fund plus $1,509,969 in estimated administrative costs. It assumes seven additional state employees. The table also shows the corresponding $300 million gain to the incentive fund: the redirected amount is not money disappearing from all state accounts, nor is it proof that all grants were paid immediately.

The note projects further $300 million transfers in fiscal 2028 and 2030 within its five-year window, with annual administration costs, but cannot estimate average balances or investment earnings because grant timing and amounts are uncertain. It anticipates no local-government fiscal implication and flags legislative funds-consolidation review. The act creates a revenue dedication and spending authority, while the note says it makes no appropriation. Earlier $501,509,969 biennial estimates apply to the rejected $500 million transfer, not the enacted amount. This is a fiscal estimate, not measured net economic benefit or subsequent spending.

Review scope: complete final act including all sunset and transition provisions; history, five versions, all three amendments and dispositions, five fiscal postings, and prior and effective-date program definitions and unchanged provisions.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.