By DAVE MCNARY

California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has announced the formation of the Select Committee on Preservation of California's Entertainment Industry, to be chaired by Democratic Assembly member Paul Krekorian.
Krekorian's district includes Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. He said the panel will hold hearings to study the economic impact of the loss of entertainment-industry jobs and develop policy options to address the problem.

The select committee will focus on runaway production due to incentives outside California; piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual-property crimes; work force development and investment in arts and career/tech education; tax policy that encourages development of jobs and infrastructure in the state; and promoting California locations and reducing impediments to production in the state.

California's entertainment industry is an invaluable foundation for our economic future," Krekorian said. "So many other states and countries are working overtime to lure this industry away from us because they know it produces tremendous economic benefits and revenues with good middle-class jobs."

Besides Krekorian, members of the committee are Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach), Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) and Assemblymember Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita).

Efforts to enact runaway production legislation in California have fallen short in recent years despite support by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hollywood labor unions. The most recent bill would have allocated as much as $100 million annually over 10 years in refundable tax credits to producers who shoot in California; opponents characterized the legislation as a handout to some of the state's wealthiest residents.