Federal Updates
Jeffry D. Harris
Bricker & Eckler LLP
CHIPS Act’s subsidies for semi-conductor manufacturing steps into the batting circle, now with a bigger bat. Is it the next batter-up in Congress? With Sen. Manchin’s (D – West Va.) death blow dealt to the Biden Administration’s climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate, the blockade of the pending CHIPS Act imposed by the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R – Kentucky) appears to have been removed. On Tuesday, July 19, the Senate held a test vote (64-34) to move forward with the semi-conductor manufacturing subsidy measure that had stalled previously in Congress, and now with a bigger impact.
Specifically, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D – New York) added to the CHIPS Act’s initial $52B in manufacturing subsidies another $250B to support for R&D of semi-conductor technology, with a targeting of those federal funds to industrial regions that were particularly hard hit by offshoring of the country’s manufacturing industries since the 1970s. (Read: Ohio)
Reporting indicates the new and improved CHIPS Act could pass the Senate yet this week, with the House looking to take up the measure for a vote as early as next week (the week of July 25). The well-publicized (and intricately followed) Intel semi-conductor fab assembly site announcement in Central Ohio has been directly keyed to the successful passage of the CHIPS Act, in whatever form emerges from Congress.
Louis Dreyfus Company Announces Record Breaking Project in Wyandot County
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods, announced plans for its state-of-the-art soybean processing facility to be located in Wyandot County, Ohio. The project will bolster the region’s economic growth in the critical food and agriculture sector. LDC’s facility will be located just outside of the City of Upper Sandusky; it’s first location in the State of Ohio.
read moreMapping a Pathway to Successfully Access New All Ohio Future Fund Opportunities
The Ohio General Assembly, in its budget bill (HB33) approved July 3, 2023, authorized up to $750 million in state budget resources to the All Ohio Future Fund (R.C. 126.62). The fund is to be used for infrastructure to compete for — and win – more sizeable economic development projects such as the Amazon, Honda-LG, and Intel megaprojects that Ohio landed in recent years.
read moreWilmington DRIVE Program Makes Strategic Acquisition
The Wilmington DRIVE (Downtown Revitalization Investment Vibrancy Effort) Program, adopted a year ago, with the goal of enhancing and accelerating Wilmington’s downtown revitalization and encouraging creative mix-use development, made its first strategic acquisition, closing on the Masonic Lodge Site (28 W. Main St.) on September 29, 2023.
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