This clear shot of the Capitol might become off-limits to film crews. Photo by owash

Since January 2012, film and television crews looking to get a decent sight line of the U.S. Capitol have been able to do so, but under the threat that their preferred vantage point, Union Square, might become off-limits. Union Square was, until the end of 2011, under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, which routinely granted film permits.

A new measure proposed by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) seeks to make the issuance of those permits more easily secured.

The square, located on the west side of the Capitol by the U.S. Botanical Gardens and featuring direct views of the dome, was transfered to control of the Architect of the Capitol and the U.S. Capitol Police, an agency that is far stingier when it comes to camera crews. (Not having allowed a non-news production to enter the Capitol since 1994’s Quiz Show.)

Since the jurisdictional changeover, the Capitol Police have allowed productions to film on the Capitol grounds, but legislation is needed to make such permission permanent. Filming in D.C. is already difficult enough for television and movie companies, considering the myriad agencies with their individual processes, not to mention the District’s lack of an incentive program, which puts it at a competitive disadvantage compared to other cities.

Norton’s provision would give the Capitol Police the authority to issue film permits for Union Square and other areas of the Capitol Grounds on a permanent basis. The measure is part of a fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill for the legislative branch passed today by a House Appropriations subcommittee. But the measure adopted today should be couched against recent history. Norton secured similar language in legislative branch appropriations bills for fiscal 2013, but Congress instead voted to pass continuing resolutions extending existing funding bills.