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LOS ANGELES — Moviemakers will be reimbursed for hiring local law enforcement to guard film productions on public property under a bill signed into law Tuesday by California Gov. Gray Davis. 

Filmmakers can receive up to $750 a day for monitoring costs associated with local law enforcement, according to the governor’s office. The maximum reimbursement cap for use of local police is $3,000 per movie or television episode. 

The initiative is part of the state’s “Film California First” program, designed to keep film and television productions from moving to Canada or Australia, where production costs are frequently cheaper. 

California already rebates expenses for filming on public property, including fire safety, transportation and other monitoring tasks by public employees.