California passed legislation on Tuesday providing tax incentives to movie and television studios as part of a broader effort to support productions amid rising competition in other states and address film safety.

The bill provides a $330 million incentive program for film and television productions and makes the tax credits refundable for the first time, meaning companies who don't have California tax liability can benefit.

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In an effort to expand state incentives for studio productions, the legislation will head to Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) desk and is expected to be signed into law.

The large bundle of funds will be passed amid strikes by writers in the California film and television industry. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May, demanding Hollywood studios increase the minimum salary for employees and provide better benefits. The strike has led to the cancellations of several productions, with the association of over 11,000 members' demands not being met.

The bill also requires any production that receives the tax credit to follow new firearm safety protocols for studios.

The state budget agreement includes safety measures from Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese who authored Senate Bill 735 to regulate the use of firearms on film and television sets following the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

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According to the language in Cortese’s bill, mandatory guidelines around firearm usage will be implemented on set, and it establishes training requirements for prop masters and armorers. The legislation requires any employer participating in the California Film and TV tax credit program to hire an independent safety adviser to conduct an initial risk assessment on set, part of a five-year pilot program.

“Now DGA [the Directors Guild of America] directors and their teams, along with all other cast and crew members, have a skilled and experienced ally and collaborator on production whose sole focus is keeping everyone safe,” Rebecca Rhine, western executive director of the Directors Guild of America, said in a statement. “While this model starts with the film tax incentive in California, we look forward to the day it becomes the standard across the country.”