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The
governors, who include Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer,
called on Congress to pass the $52 billion CHIPS Act, which
would set aside $2 billion for the kind of older-technology
chips of which there is a deep shortage in the automotive
industry.
The group, which also includes the governors of auto-producing
states like Alabama, said the shortage had cost
automakers 2.2 million vehicles and affected 575,000 jobs in the
industry.
“The global auto chip shortage has hit Michigan and states
across the country hard, idling plants and slowing production,
threatening thousands of auto-related jobs up and down the
supply chain,” Whitmer said in a statement. “With no end in
sight, it’s clear we have no time to lose if we’re going to
protect jobs and maintain our competitive edge."
The semiconductor funding passed the U.S. Senate earlier this
year by 68-32 as part of the broader U.S. Innovation and
Competition Act, or USICA. But it has not passed the House of
Representatives.
Elements of the broader bill have drawn opposition from some
House members who worry that it does not have safeguards to
prevent research funds from benefiting China, the United States'
primary global competitor.
"We understand that the House of Representatives has its own
priorities with respect to the policies and programs included in
USICA, we hope the two chambers will now come together quickly
to find common ground with respect to this legislation,
including full funding for the CHIPS Act re-shoring provisions,
as soon as possible,” the governors wrote.
Also signing the letter were the governors of Illinois,
Wisconsin, North Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Kansas and
California.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Ben Klayman in
Detroit; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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