Gov. Greg Abbott urged lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to approve a bill on Thursday that intends to promote the research, development and fabrication of semiconductors within Texas and the U.S., per the Office of the Texas Governor, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported.
Abbott, a Republican, believes the passage of the CHIPS Act of 2022 would immensely benefit the Lone Star State, which he said is the country’s semiconductor industry leader, according to KXAN.
“More than 30,000 Texans work in this field and in the last year alone, Samsung and Texas Instruments announced major projects in Texas investing up to $47 billion, with the potential to create 5,000 new jobs,” the governor said, the station reported.
It’s presently on the U.S. House of Representatives to consider the legislation after U.S. Senate advanced it on Tuesday.
CNBC reported that the CHIPS Act cleared the upper chamber with a 64-34 vote.
According to CNBC, the act would give the U.S. a strong competitive edge against China by allocating nearly $50 billion in subsidies.
KXAN reported that the bill would create a semiconductor supply chain, to which Abbott asserted would boost Texas’ profile in the industry.
“The federal incentives in the CHIPS Act of 2022 will help Texas leverage our investments in the semiconductor industry,” he said, the station reported. “And the tax provisions will benefit the semiconductor-related companies already operating in the state, while attracting others that are looking to expand and grow.”
CNBC reported that U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who was instrumental in crafting the bill, tweeted the country could see negative economic consequences if the country “lost access to advanced semiconductors” that are made abroad.
“GDP could shrink by 3.2% and we could lose 2.4 million jobs,” Cornyn said. “The GDP loss would 3x larger ($718 billion) than the estimated $240 billion of U.S. GDP lost in 2021 due to the ongoing chip shortage.”