HB 379 Alabama House · 2026 Regular Session

Entertainment Industry Incentive Act of 2009 amended, create additional incentive program, extend review and evaluation deadline

HB 379 amends Alabama's Entertainment Industry Incentive Act of 2009 to create a new rebate program for small film productions spending $100,000-$499,999 in the state, offering a 45% rebate on payroll paid to Alabama residents. It extends the deadline for the Department of Commerce to contract an outside review of the incentive program until the first day of the 2028 legislative session. The bill also clarifies that payments to "loan-out companies" (entities handling payroll for freelancers) qualify for the rebate only if the production company properly withheld and remitted Alabama taxes on those payments. This directly affects small film productions and Alabama-based crew members seeking tax incentives under the existing program.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Feb 3, 2026 Signed Apr 16, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Enrolled · 5 edits · Apr 16, 2026

MODERATE

This bill was finalized and enrolled, moving from an introduced draft to an official legislative act. The text was cleaned up to remove draft markings and standardized the formatting. Substantively, the bill defines new terms for the Entertainment Industry Incentive Act, clarifies how compensation to loan-out companies counts toward tax rebates, and extends a deadline for an external review of the incentive program.

Scope change

The bill's scope is now formally established as an amendment to the Entertainment Industry Incentive Act of 2009, adding provisions for small production incentives and clarifying tax rules for loan-out companies.

TECHNICAL

The document status changed from 'Introduced' to 'Enrolled', indicating the bill has passed all legislative stages and is ready for the Governor's signature.

Page headers and document identifiers were updated to reflect the final enrolled version, removing draft-specific metadata.

DEFINITION

New definitions were added for 'PAYROLL' and 'PRODUCTION EXPENDITURES' to clarify exactly what costs and compensation count toward the state tax incentive rebate.

REQUIREMENT

Specific tax withholding requirements were added to determine when payments to 'loan-out companies' (entities that employ actors) qualify for the incentive rebate.

TIMELINE

The bill extends the deadline for the Department of Commerce to contract with an out-of-state entity to review and evaluate the incentive program.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 1188

upper

Mar 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported Out of Committee Second House

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending Committee Action in Second House (Finance and Taxation Education)

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass - Adopted Roll Call 699

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Pending Committee Action in House of Origin (Ways and Means Education)

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors