03 Jul What Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” Does, And Does Not Do, For Hollywood [Deadline]
BY TED JOHNSON
July 3, 2025 | When Donald Trump signs the “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Friday, it will be a starting point for a big messaging battle with an eye on the 2026 midterms.
Hollywood activists are likely to play a big part in that, particularly on the left, where the concern is not only on the major cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs but a huge increase in funding for immigration enforcement. The legislation also has a large-scale rollback of clean-energy initiatives, to the dismay of everyone from climate activists to Elon Musk.
Overall, Republicans’ goal in passing the legislation was to extend the tax cuts that were put in place in 2017, during Trump’s first term, as well as to add billions to border security and defense spending.
The legislation also makes across-the-board tax changes to things like deductions for highly compensated employees and to charitable giving. One of the most hotly contested was over the deduction for state and local income taxes, of special interest to those living in New York, California and other large states. The SALT deduction limit of $10,000, put in place in the 2017 law, will be increased to $40,000. But that would start to phase out at a $500,000 income threshold. It also retains the pass-through entity tax workaround. But the SALT cap will revert to $10,000 in 2030.
But tucked into the mammoth legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office says will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, are some provisions that have potential impact on the entertainment and media business.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in.