WATCH: Sen. Schiff Continues Push for Federal Film Tax Incentive, Breaks Down Upcoming Elections on ABC7

Los Angeles, CA – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined ABC7 Los Angeles’ Josh Haskell to discuss his ongoing push to enact a bipartisan federal film tax incentive following President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post last week declaring support for the passage of a federal incentive. Schiff highlighted how federal film tax credits would create thousands of jobs and support local economic growth in California and across the country. The Senator also broke down efforts to disenfranchise voters which are being enacted ahead of the 2026 midterm election and outlined his agenda for safeguarding elections to ensure every American’s right to vote is protected ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. View the full interview here . Key Excerpts: On the importance of a federal film tax incentive: This is some rare, good news of bipartisan agreement in Congress. And that is, this is a fabulous industry. It brings a lot of good-paying jobs. It supports the local economy here in Burbank, Glendale. We have so much of the industry, and it’s great for people who work in the industry. But it’s also great for the dry cleaners. It’s great for the caterers and the wardrobe people, and it supports the entire economy. But we’re losing those jobs overseas because other countries have given tax incentives that we haven’t matched. Now, for the first time, there’s a lot of bipartisan interest in this, in getting a federal tax credit done. This is something I’ve been carrying for years and years and years and fighting for. And now we have this rare confluence where the president is for it, Democrats are for it, Republicans are for it. So, we actually have a chance now, finally, to get it done. On the administration’s voting restriction plans: […] They realize I think there’s going to be a major backlash against the tariffs, against the Iran war, against many of the president’s policies that have raised the cost of living for Americans, and they want to basically discourage people from voting. Their hope is to win the election by depriving people of the franchise. So, all around the country, there’s this attack on voting. There’s a case right now before the Supreme Court. If the administration is successful, it will completely upend absentee voting. It will be chaos, which I think they hope for. Here in California, there’s Prop 39, where it may require people to put their Social Security numbers, or some of them, or their driver’s license numbers on their ballots before they mail them. If they forget, their vote doesn’t count. If they use the wrong ID, their vote doesn’t count. This is all designed to take away people’s right to vote. […] I’m also concerned, though, apart from these legal efforts or illegal efforts, that you could see interference at polling places on election day. You could see them dispatching the military or ICE as they threatened to do. When you consider that the last big contested election, the president was willing to incite people to attack the Capitol. You really can’t put anything beyond or out of bounds. On the impact of President Trump’s increasing wealth on Americans: […] He has made 2.2 or 2.3 billion dollars in his first year as president. So yeah, there’s a lot that needs to be looked into, and it shouldn’t fall on just Democrats to do it. But Republicans have been unwilling to look at anything the president has done, no matter how corrupt. So yeah, there’ll be investigations, but it’ll be important always to bring it back to what’s the impact of this corruption on people. And I think the impact is that because the president is so focused on making money for himself and his family, he’s not focused on average American families. He’s not focused on their cost of living. He doesn’t care what the tariffs with Canada do to their income and whether they can afford to buy groceries. It’s all about his own wealth. That that needs to be exposed. On Trump’s trade war with Canada: I think it’s stupid and destructive. The Canadians have been our strongest allies. They fought side by side with us in every war we’ve been engaged in, and to treat them this way and to engage in this just self-destructive trade war makes no sense at all. Canadians are not our enemies. And it’s I think the Canadians don’t recognize the United States anymore, which is a tragedy. Their government is having to recalibrate its relationship with us after such a productive partnership. It’s just needless and senseless and harmful in raising the cost of living for people. On the ongoing Iran war: I don’t think we can afford it at all. And when you break it down, I think I’ve seen some estimates that average families have now had to pay $1,700 to $2,300 more per year that this war has gone on, just in the increased cost of things. And then, of course, the most serious cost is we’ve lost 18 service members. And the cost that those families have borne is just incalculable. So when the president downplays the significance of the war. Well, it may not matter much to him. It may not matter much to his family, but it matters a lot to Americans. And this needs to come to an end. On the proposed land swap in Yosemite National Park: It does concern me, and you mentioned investigations earlier. This is something we’re investigating, and that is why this wealthy developer, why this particular proposal, when there are lots of hotel owners and other enterprises that would love to do business in Yosemite and love to have a road of their own. So why does this developer get a road of their own? Why do they get this special easement? It doesn’t make any sense except for the money. You always follow the money. I’m a former prosecutor. You follow the money. And generally, where the money leads with this administration is there’s some corrupt bargain involved. The Forest Service shouldn’t be selling off pieces of a treasure like Yosemite because they’ve got some big donor involved. ###