if I made some errors, enjoy! I didn't proof the below, but it should be good no matter what.
Jay Villwock, my personal Iowa Capitol Guide, and David Thrasher, my friend who gives and gives generously, joined me in one of our last visits to the Iowa Capitol today.
It never seems to take long to find someone to talk with when under the gold dome. We chatted with Dick Thornton, lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America. We all agreed that our present governor (name withheld out of principle) will probably not be re-elected and that former Iowa governor, Terry Branstad will likely be elected yet again. Dick said Mr. Branstad is a friend of film-makers.
We also had a conversation with IMPA lobbyist, Craig Patterson, who said the suspension time for the film program - now at three years- doesn't matter because the new Dotzler-designed film bill would strike the suspension feature, although the new bill could become effective as late as 1 July 2011, the traditional date of when new laws become effective. It could happen sooner though, because legislators have the power to decide on the date for laws to begin.
Tammy Shutters, of the IMPA, and Becky Gruening, of the Greater Des Moines Visitors and Convention Bureau, stopped to say nobody seems to know why the suspension was lengthened from two to three years.
When we spotted pro-film Senator Joe Seng, he shook his head and said the message a three year suspension sends isn't good. And Representative Eric Helland told us that the House "was rolled". He thought there would've been a fight over the tax credit bill, but there was none, and the tax savings from all of the rolling back of tax credits is very small.
We called Senator Bill Dotzler, Jr. out of the senate chamber and he said he wouldn't fight the suspension changes because," it doesn't matter if the suspension is three years or ten years -we're going to get right on it" when he forms a work group to redesign the film bill. He said his work group would convene in Des Moines and that he'd contact me and others for participation.
Republican Dave Roederer met us as we were descending the beautiful wide steps on our way out. He agreed with Dick Thornton, that our likely next governor will be film-friendly. What a hugely-welcomed relief that will be.
Please go to my blog at http://iowafilminsider.blogspot.com/ and give me your thoughts, your stories about how film-making has impacted you. If you know of a town or a business that greatly benefitted from movie-making, or suffered when the freeze began, please share your accounts on the blog so others can see.
gino, today with jay villwock and dave thrasher
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