Fund the CHIPS Act NOW
Last week, majority members in the Ohio Senate introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 17 urging Congress to finally allocate funds for the CHIPS Act. The CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) for America Act passed both the House and Senate but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is holding up the conference committee’s work to finalize the bill and send it to President Biden for his signature.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became obvious that domestic production of semiconductors will be essential to America’s economic and national security. Computer chips are needed in almost every piece of new technology being manufactured today- from phones to cars, and everything in between. The chip shortage has been felt all over the globe. Auto companies had to close down factories for weeks at a time, hurting workers, their families, downstream industries and our economy. Millions of vehicles either sat in empty fields waiting for chips or were not manufactured at all, causing prices to soar.
President Biden called on industry giants to tackle the growing chip shortage by investing and expanding chip manufacturing in the United States. To their credit, companies like Intel have answered the call, announcing an initial $20 billion investment to build leading edge chip factories in Ohio. Even moving at breakneck speed, it will take several years to get the factories up and running. Fully funding the CHIPS Act will help accelerate the scope and pace of Intel’s expansion in Ohio and limit expansion abroad. The company announced it was delaying its ground breaking ceremony scheduled for August, directly blaming the delay in funding the CHIPS Act for the postponement. Congress cannot delay any further.
