Tax incentive to boost diversity in the TV business passes in Albany. The bill sets aside $5 million for salaries of women and minority TV writers and directors.

Crain's New York reports:

A bill to encourage diversity among TV writers and directors passed yesterday in both the New York state Senate and Assembly, as expected.

The legislation sets up a $5 million incentive program to be allocated to the salaries of TV writers and directors who are women or minorities. The money for the program will be separate from the state's $420 million film and TV production tax credit. A previous version of the bill had taken the $5 million out of the $420 million allocation, which was met with opposition from a number of executives in the film industry.

The bill was sponsored by two Hispanic legislators, Sen. Marisol Alcantara and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo. Gov. Andrew Cuomo must now approve it and the state budget must appropriate funds for it before the bill becomes law.

The bill's supporters, which include the Writers Guild of America, East; the Directors Guild of America; and the entertainment-industry unions, said that people in television tend to get hired based on whom they know, which often leaves talented storytellers on the sidelines.

Attention white males : the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn't apply to you in New York state. Who knew the 1964 Civil Rights Act no longer applied in New York? No word yet on when "Albany" is going to set aside money for registered Republicans to be hired as sociologists in New York state at public universities.