WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Intel announced last week that it will build two computer chip factories in Ohio, the company’s CEO said the project could grow substantially if Congress passed legislation called the CHIPS Act.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio Republicans in the U.S. House are opposing a sweeping bill aimed at helping the U.S. compete with China

  • Despite supporting a portion of it that would help fund the computer chip factories Intel will build in Ohio, the lawmakers said the legislation does more harm than good

  • Ohio Democrats said Republicans are opposing it for political reasons

  • Intel’s CEO said the bill could help increase the size of the new Ohio plants

The bill would dedicate $52 billion to building computers chips in America, but it’s quickly become politicized as the U.S. House of Representatives considers it.

The CHIPs Act is part of a larger piece of legislation that the U.S. Senate passed last summer that aims to help the U.S. compete with China. House Democrats announced their version, the COMPETES Act, last week, but Republican lawmakers from Ohio and around the country immediately condemned it.

“The problem with the bill is it’s all talk and no action,” Rep. Steve Chabot (R, OH-1) said in a hearing Wednesday. “Two thirds of its provisions are findings, senses of Congress, policy statements and other non-binding filler. It mandates over 170 reports. Legislating more bureaucracy and paperwork at the State Department will accomplish little more than bringing a knife to a gun fight in the international arena.”

The COMPETES Act is the larger bill being considered. It would allocate billions of dollars toward improving the supply chain, funding research for innovation and setting aside that $52 billion for chip manufacturing.

Even though the CEO of Intel said last week his decision to choose Ohio for the chip factories was reliant on the CHIPS Act getting passed, Ohio Republicans said they do not support the larger legislation.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he believes their opposition is political, since the Senate version of the bill had strong backing from Republicans when it passed last summer, including from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

“The bill has overwhelming Republican support in the Senate, but in the House, they don’t want [President Joe] Biden to succeed,” Brown told Spectrum News on Thursday. “It’s that simple, and they’re voting against American interests. They’re going to say it’s something about China, but the fact is, those same people have never stood up to China.”

Intel’s CEO has said funding from the CHIPS Act could help grow the Ohio project from $20 billion to $100 billion. Ohio Republicans support that, but not the broader legislation.