Amy Schumer, Samantha Bee among 400 writers urging Cuomo to sign TV tax credit bill

More than 400 TV and film writers urged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to sign a bill that would allocate a portion of the state’s TV production to incentivize hiring women and people of color in the industry. 

The writers span genres — including comedians Amy Schumer, John Oliver, Samantha Bee and Ilana Glazer and writers from the dramas “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why.” 

{mosads}“The time for studies, training programs and speeches has passed and the time to take meaningful action has arrived,” the Writers Guild of America East petition reads. 

The bill the writers support, known as the Television Diversity Tax Credit Bill, passed both legislative chambers but still require Cuomo’s signature to become law. 

“If this bill becomes law, New York will be the place where progressive ideals intersect with workable solutions, a place that goes beyond talk to create meaningful change and real jobs,” the writers said. 

In response to the petition, a spokesperson for Cuomo said “the bill is under review.” 

Cuomo vetoed a similar bill in 2017, according to Deadline. He had said that the state’s $420 million film incentives program is already “extremely oversubscribed” and the proposed legislation contained “technical difficulties which make the bill fatally defective.”