Reckoning With Rust: Dueling Bills Tackle Safety

While both senators have spoken with guilds like the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and IATSE as well as the Motion Picture Association - the trade group advocating for the major studios and Netflix - the MPA is supporting SB 829, and many unions back SB 831. [...]as the bills are en route to the same Senate committee, the questions they raise - about whether the Rust tragedy should lead to firearms regulation specifically (SB 829) or a larger overhaul of set safety practices (SB 831) - are coming to a head, and a familiar tension between employers and labor leaders, independence and oversight, is simmering beneath the surface. Cortese - who in the immediate aftermath of the Rust shooting called for a ban on live ammunition and firearms capable of shooting live ammunition on sets, but modified that approach after industry feedback - says it was a conversation with the DGA about larger safety concerns that led him to extend his bill beyond firearms regulations.