With ratification of a hard-fought contract imminent, the Writers Guild of America has shifted its fight with movie and television studios to a new front: the state Legislature, the Los Angeles Times rerpots.

The guild and two labor allies, the Screen Actors Guild and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, on Monday announced that they were sponsoring a bill that could boost their share of revenues when programs are licensed to be shown on affiliated cable networks or stations.

At issue is the contention that Hollywood’s six major studios charge their co-owned affiliates, including cable networks, artificially low prices to rerun popular shows. Such discounting means that writers, actors, directors and other creative workers get less money in the form of residual payments that are calculated as a percentage of the license price, the Writers Guild contends.

Tension between screenwriters and production companies and movie studios over alleged below-market licensing agreements has been building for years. Studios have been hit with lawsuits involving the sale of reruns for a number of popular television shows, including “Home Improvement,” “NYPD Blue,” “The X-Files” and “Will and Grace.”

The Teamsters union, which represents some craftsmen working on movie sets, argues that alleged studio self-dealing reduces the flow of contributions into union health and welfare funds.

Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West, said the proposed legislation would bring “reliable accounting” and fair compensation for entertainment industry workers.

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