Albany -- Should New York taxpayers continue to pay for the State's $700 million tax break for TV and Film Productions?

A recent study says the return hasn't been worth the investment, so lawmakers convened for an economic incentives hearing in November to examine the State's incentive plans.

Stakeholders and officials testified before members of the Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, Economic Development & Small Business and and Senate Standing Committee on Budget & Revenues.

"For every dollar that taxpayers are putting into a program like the film tax credit to incentivize film production, they're only getting back, according to this audit, 31 cents on the dollar," State Senator James Skoufis, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, told CBS6. "If we were to pay any industry to be here at the rate at which we pay the film industry to be here, those industries would be here too. And so we're not getting our bang for our buck because our subsidy is so large, it's not because the economic development activity is not happening."

But, some pushed back on that line of questioning during the hearing, including Hope Knight, President, CEO and Commissioner of Empire State Development.

"I think you have to look more inclusively at that metric," she told the panel. "Because if you're talking about the film industry, so much of the film industry is connected to the small business community where these productions exist. And so, there is significant induced activity as a result of these productions engaging the local economy."

Productions like Saturday Night Live, Hallmark movies and the show Blue Bloods have all taken advantage of the tax credit in recent years, something Brian O'Leary, Tax Counsel at the Motion Picture Association, says has been beneficial for municipalities and the State as a whole.

"There is this unbroken continuum of growth which is not reflected in the PFM report, perhaps because they didn't have access to that information," he said. "New York is set up to succeed as long as it has the competitive incentive. I know that it's a controversial point, but a competitive incentive world class workforce, small businesses that support this industry around the state, as well as infrastructure."

While some State Republicans criticized the tax credit during their campaigns in the Fall, during the hearing Republican State Senator Tom O'Mara said he didn't agree with the tax breaks, but thinks they're crucial.

"I'd rather we didn't have any of these economic incentives, or have a need for any of these economic incentives, but New York State is a high cost state of doing business, and we're in competition with every other state in the country and every country around the world," he said.

The report did not show every tax incentive program the same, as it did show the Excelsior Jobs Program as one of the more successful tax incentive initiatives.

In January, the legislature is expected to reevaluate all of these programs as they work to craft the next State budget.