It’s not often that The Buckeye Institute agrees with Policy Matters Ohio, but when it comes to opposing the increase of the special interest motion picture tax credit, we do!

Policymakers are proposing increasing this special interest film tax credit, currently capped at $40 million a year, to a whopping $100 million annually and broadening it to include some Broadway productions, claiming that this tax credit will incentivize Hollywood and Broadway producers to set up shop in Ohio. What it really does is waste your tax dollars on a multi-billion-dollar industry that doesn’t need handouts from Ohioans.

This proposal would cost Ohio’s General Revenue Fund $58 million and local government and public libraries an additional $2 million annually. The Ohio Legislative Service Commission has estimated that the bill will result in a $60 million loss in total revenue per year.

One example of a state who has already gone through this issue is Massachusetts and its own film tax credit. According to their annual report in 2011, the spending cuts necessary to pay for the tax credit resulted in more than 1,400 lost jobs, so only 222 jobs were gained statewide, at a cost of $325,000 each. In their 2014 report, they found the program actually destroyed more jobs than it created in 2010. From 2006 until 2014, this tax incentive has only generated $0.14 in revenue for every dollar spent, costing Massachusetts $471.6 million.

When alternative job creation policies are considered, it becomes clear that the inconsistencies and costs of such special interest tax credits makes them a poor policy choice, and all the supposed gains appear paltry in the face of smarter alternatives. In 2011, North Carolina compared their film tax credit to an across-the-board reduction in taxes of the same value. The incentive was estimated to have created 50-70 new jobs, while a business tax reduction would create 370-450 new jobs, cost the same, and benefit all businesses equally—not just well-connected filmmakers.

When it comes down to it, Ohio taxpayers should not be giving handouts to movie and Broadway producers. Extending this film credit will only hurt Ohioans and Ohio’s businesses. Ohio policymakers should nix the film tax credit altogether, as we suggested the last time an increased cap was proposed, just two years ago.

Ohio taxpayers’ hard-earned money would be better spent on projects that benefit the entire state, not just those benefiting the entertainment industry.

Quinn Beeson is an economic research analyst and Tyler Shankel is an economic policy analyst. Both are with The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center.