A proposal by a Los Angeles-area lawmaker to offer extra tax breaks to film and television productions that move to California from states with anti-abortion laws is a bad idea. It smacks of bribing companies to boycott, and it opens the door for more tit-for-tat tax break wars to take place among states.

The idea for a “Share Our Values” California tax credit comes from Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, a Democrat. It's a direct response to states that have enacted so-called fetal “heartbeat” bills that prohibit abortion after six to eight weeks of pregnancy, which is about the time that most women discover that they are pregnant and when doctors can start to detect fetal cardiac activity.

Alabama went further and adopted an outright ban on nearly all abortions in every stage of pregnancy, with no exemptions for victims of rape or incest. Rivas' tax credit would apply to companies in Alabama as well; in fact, any state that adopted or was even considering a bill to restrict abortion rights after six or fewer weeks of pregnancy would be targeted.

Already some actors and production companies have announced they'll boycott these states to protest their regressive restrictions. And Gov. Gavin Newsom has sought to turn the situation to California's advantage by appealing to Hollywood's famously liberal politics.

“For those of you that have left to do production in states like Georgia, consider the investment there and what it's promoting, versus investing in your state and what we're promoting,” Newsom said in a video last week with Rivas. “This is the moment, come back home.”

California already offers $330 million a year to movies and TV shows that film in the state. Assembly Bill 1442 would create an additional tax credit for productions that move to California from the states targeted by the bill, or for productions that can demonstrate that they chose to film in California rather than in a targeted state. The bill doesn't yet say how much more money a production could get for moving to California.

There are good reasons to be wary of California expanding its tax credit program in this way. California has already been forced to enter the film-incentive arms race just to try to hold onto the middle-class jobs and revenue generated by one of the state's signature industries.

The entertainment industry already plays states against one another to elicit the biggest tax breaks; AB 1442 would simply give the studios a bigger financial prize for winning that game.

And why would California reward productions that chose to chase incentive dollars rather than those that stayed in the state all along? It's a race to the bottom, and the only folks who would benefit are the movie moguls who work the tax breaks to their advantage.

It's certainly commendable when companies choose to use their position and power to advocate for civil rights and equality. But California should not get into the business of paying companies to take a stand.