As state lawmakers failed to find the money to guarantee that “House of Cards” would continue to film in Maryland, the vote-whipping of the masterfully manipulative Mr. Underwood, as played by Kevin Spacey in the hit political drama, might have wrangled the needed support.
Instead, minutes before the end of the General Assembly session at midnight Monday, a bill to pay for a filmmaking subsidy, which the show’s producers had demanded in what some saw as pure Hollywood-meets-Washington hardball, died.
In the House of Delegates, however, where opposition came from both Democrats and Republicans, strings were attached to a portion of that money, $3.5 million.
The idea was to allow state officials to claw back money if a filmmaker shot a first season of a series and then left the state.
Tempers rose during floor debate in the House on Monday when a Democratic supporter of the subsidy program told a critic, Delegate Mark Fisher, to “stop pointing your finger at me.”
“I’m pointing a finger at you on behalf of the taxpayers of Maryland,” Mr. Fisher, a Republican, replied.