Rebates

New Mexico's film tax program, one of the most successful in the country, may not end up on the cutting-room floor after all. The state Senate voted Wednesday to approve a measure that would preserve the state's 25% film tax subsidy on qualified film and TV expenditures but cap the total amount of funds paid out annually at $50 million a year. The bill marks a compromise and partial victory for film-industry advocates, who reacted angrily to a recent proposal by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to drastically scale back the tax rebate to 15% from 25%. Critics said that would devastate New Mexico's vibrant film industry, causing producers to take their business elsewhere.

Current plug-in and alternative-fuel vehicles eligible for a $5,000 California rebate: Honda FCX Clarity Nissan Leaf Tesla Roadster Upcoming vehicles expected to qualify : Chevrolet Volt (second generation) Ford Focus Ford Transit Connect Electric Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid Toyota RAV4 EV Tesla Model S Partial list Source: Center for Sustainable Energy

California consumers counting on a $5,000 state rebate for purchasing an electric car may be in for a shock: The money may not be there when they go to collect. The state Air Resources Board, which is offering the program for eligible electric and other zero-emission vehicles, has $8 million in its coffers. That's enough to pay out incentives to about 1,600 buyers, estimated Jay Friedland, legislative director of Plug In America, an electric-vehicle advocacy group. But it's well below the expected pace of sales for vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf, which is just now hitting the market.

Tired of being spurned by more appealing suitors, the city of Los Angeles is hoping new tax breaks will catch the wandering eye of Hollywood's filmmakers. On Tuesday, the City Council asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would reduce the entertainment production tax paid by companies that shoot TV shows, feature films and commercials in L.A. The city also is exploring the idea of offering production companies a rebate on the 1% portion of the state sales tax that it receives.

The California Cash for Appliances rebate program, which has lagged since launching three months ago, is expanding the list of eligible energy-efficient machines in an attempt to boost interest. Starting Thursday, customers who trade in their old electricity-guzzling machines for new eco-friendly ones can start applying for rebates of $50 for freezers, $100 for dishwashers, $100 to $750 for water heaters and $200 to $1,000 for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Eli Broad's willingness to spend an estimated $100 million to build his downtown art museum has been a leading point in its favor, but the fine print of the deal approved earlier this month by L.A.'s Community Redevelopment Agency calls for Broad's museum to eventually receive millions of public dollars as a kind of rebate on its construction cost. The museum, tentatively named the Broad Collection, is on track to become the first structure built in the $3-billion Grand Avenue Project, a boulevard of condos, cultural sites, stores, offices and a hotel.

California's largest auto insurer, Farmers Insurance Group, announced Tuesday that it was reducing its rates by an average of 14.5% for policies issued by its Farmers Insurance Exchange subsidiary. Also, current holders of those policies will get a one-time 10% rebate when they renew them. The move, announced Tuesday, puts the company in compliance with a state law passed in 2006 that changed the way auto insurance providers could calculate their rates, said Mark Toohey, Farmers' senior vice president.

How far would you go for $4? Jon Merritt deserves some kind of prize for running a corporate obstacle course to redeem a $4 rebate he was promised for a 20-pack of Miller Genuine Draft beer. Mail-in rebates, as many of us have learned, can be a minefield of sneaky requirements and exclusions. Far be it from me to doubt the integrity of big businesses, but you almost suspect they don't really want people claiming the money they're due. Most consumers might throw in the towel when confronted by intransigent service reps or the revelation of fine-print exemptions.

Facing continued public skepticism about the new healthcare law, President Obama traveled to Maryland on Tuesday to tout the distribution of $250 rebate checks for senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug coverage, one of the law's first benefits. At the same time, the president announced a new initiative to cut in half the amount of waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program by the end of 2012 — an ambitious goal that would require the federal government to recover as much as $18 billion.

Senior citizens who hit the so-called doughnut hole in Medicare's drug benefit will begin getting $250 rebate checks in two weeks, the Obama administration announced Thursday — providing one of the first tangible benefits of the recently enacted healthcare law. The rebates, designed in part to bolster support for the controversial law, are the first steps in a decade-long phase-out of the unpopular gap in Medicare Part D drug coverage....