Unions and Communities Should Have a Say in CHIPS Act Funding

It’s been two years since members of Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. This industrial investment is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark achievements. But with the due diligence phase underway, it’s clear that this administration should do more to ensure that its goals to “create good-paying jobs, make more in the United States, and revitalize communities left behind” are met through CHIPS Act investment.

The Commerce Department has announced over $30 billion in public subsidies and $25.3 billion in loans to fourteen multinational companies across twenty-four sites in fourteen states. U.S.-based Intel and Micron, South Korea’s Samsung, and Taiwan’s TSMC are among the corporate welfare beneficiaries.

The allocation of these funds is undemocratic, with unions, community groups, environmental organizations and independent experts largely excluded from the decision-making process. In fact, a group of U.S. Senators highlighted this in a letter sent to the Commerce Department on August 7 imploring the agency to “impose clear and enforceable conditions on [CHIPS] grantees before agreements are finalized.”