In a near-unanimous vote, the California Senate today passed its version of legislation aimed at expanding and retooling the state’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program .

The vote on Senate Bill 630 was 34-1, with the only nay coming from Sen. Roger Niello, who represents the city of Sacramento and surrounding areas. The bill (read it here ) still needs to clear the state Assembly, which will hold its vote on Thursday.

Along with Assembly Bill 1138 — which passed the Appropriations Committee last month — the legislation would expand the definition of a qualified motion picture, allowing additional projects to apply for the program, including series with episodes averaging 20 minutes or more, animation films, series, and shorts, and large-scale competition shows.

The bills hit a

See Full Page