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Governor says CHIPS and Science Act will benefit Illinois

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Illinois

Illinois could see part of the $280 billion dollar boost to make key products right here in America.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law.

Biden say it will help strengthen our nation’s domestic manufacturing and supply chains to prevent future backlogs. […]

“We have a lot of manufacturing,” said Pritzker. “We’re in the heart of what use to be called the rust belt, now the innovation belt, and our manufacturers use semiconductors in virtually everything that they do, and it’s been very hard to obtain those chips when they needed it.”

In the future, Pritzker says this law will bring production back to America and Illinois will benefit from it.

* Guests of the governor from Crain’s Chicago Business…

Rivian is the biggest producer of electric vehicles in Illinois at its Normal plant, but, like all EV producers, the company has faced delays in ramping up production due to a shortage of components, including chips (especially semiconductors) and batteries. Rivian and Pritzker both have been trying to get a battery manufacturer to set up shop in the state.

Meanwhile, Ford runs the largest conventional vehicle assembly plant in Illinois, on Chicago’s Far South Side. But its future is increasingly in doubt unless the company makes the commitment to invest billions in converting it from gasoline-powered to electric vehicles.

Ford has been pretty mum about whether it will do so and when, but Pritzker’s decision to invite Tony Reinhart, the company’s regional director of government affairs, certainly would seem to leave the door open for lots of productive conversation.

Also on Pritzker’s invite list – the White House let him bring a limited number of guests – are execs from electric bus maker Lion Electric and Decatur electric compressor maker T/CCI.

* GOP response…

Nationally, the House GOP is calling CHIPS an “inflationary death spiral.” Touting an opinion piece that CHIPS is not needed to compete with China, from the Wall Street Journal.

“Democrats have confirmed: CHIPS is a green light for higher taxes, worse inflation, and corporate welfare, just as President Biden’s cruel economy fell into a recession for the second quarter in a row.

If congressional Democrats succeed in providing $76 billion in corporate subsidies and carveouts to politically connected corporations, their next step will be tax increases, greater IRS audits, and inflationary spending that will hurt everyone else.”

Even so, lame duck Republican US Reps. Rodney Davis and Adam Kinzinger voted for the measure.

* The Hill…

The new legislation is designed to increase domestic production of semiconductors over the long term to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign suppliers. Proponents also say it will help the U.S. compete with China, which has its own chip market.

The bill includes more than $50 billion in incentives for manufacturers of semiconductors, or chips, to build domestic semiconductor plants. It also includes more than $80 billion for the National Science Foundation authorized over five years to support innovation and research. […]

White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told reporters at a recent press briefing that the bill would have near-immediate impacts on decisions by companies to stand up operations in the U.S. But he acknowledged the impact on the domestic supply chain would be longer term.

“This is a long-term project, a long-term national project, that is a vital economic and national security consequence, and the ultimate impact of that will be felt over the course of years,” Deese said.

posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 11:36 am

Comments

-= Nationally, the House GOP is calling CHIPS an “inflationary death spiral.” =-

Ah yes, the scary-sounding ‘death spiral’ language. Is IPI taking its game national now? It worked so well here, after all.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 12:12 pm
So rather than support U.S. manufacturing of a component that is needed and will be needed more in the future, it would be better to remain dependent on foreign sources? C’mon GOP, get a better argument.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 12:31 pm
As a candidate for governor, wouldn’t Darren Bailey offer comments on Rivian in Normal and the Ford plant near Torrence Avenue. These facilities are crucial to the economic engine in the state yet Candidate Bailey is silent on the impact to Illinois.

Too much science for Darren. Too many complex ideas for processing. Too inarticulate to form an opinion.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 12:47 pm
==But its future is increasingly in doubt unless the company makes the commitment to invest billions in converting it from gasoline-powered to electric vehicles.==

It’s future is facing the exact same pressures that every other car manufacturing plant in the country is facing.

Increasingly, that adverb is overused to make minor points seem worthy of a news story.

Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 12:48 pm
Hey, did anyone else notice the byline here?

Welcome, and you’re off to a great start(banned punct)

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 1:07 pm
Some really choice cuts here in a post, Isabel.

Good stuff. The context on Davis and Kinzinger is important too

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 1:41 pm
I hope this helps Rivian and our national security where we are so dependent on Taiwan for chips right now.

I have read the IRA could negatively affect Rivian in terms of its vehicles being too pricey for the buyers to get an EV credit.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 2:43 pm
Innovation belt lol. Keep dreaming

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 10, 22 @ 9:30 pm