Ohio's CHIPS politics
1 big thing: Selling the CHIPS and Science Act in Ohio
AKRON, Ohio — At a lunch in an old, refurbished train station earlier this month, Rep. Emilia Sykes faced many questions from the audience but no one mentioned the CHIPS and Science Act, Maria reports.
Why it matters: The law is among the most significant accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, but politicians like Sykes are boiling down the sprawling, multi-billion dollar package into an idea that resonates better with voters — jobs.
Zoom in: Sykes is in a competitive race for Ohio's 13th district, one of the few places in the country that won CHIPS money for a tech hub that is focused on sustainable plastics and rubbers.
- The freshman lawmaker advocated for Akron's tech hub application and helped secure its approval.
- "When I got to Congress, I said, 'Let me figure out how I can be helpful here. This is a big deal, and polymers is really how we made our mark,'" she told Maria in the lobby of an Akron hotel after the event.
- Sykes asked to be on House Science's Science, Space and Technology panel, where she said she studied up on the issue, met the right players and advocated for the district.
- Beyond the tech hub, Ohio is home to several other CHIPS and Science Act-related investments.
Now Sykes and other Ohio lawmakers are touting that track record in a context different from wonky science advancements or the global tech race to beat out China.
- Sykes: "It's being able to distill it into: this means jobs, this means opportunity. This means being able to live your American dream here. You don't have to seek it elsewhere."
- Her Republican opponent, Kevin Coughlin, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But according to his campaign website, Coughlin believes economic growth happens by supporting oil, gas and renewable energy projects.
The local press club hosted the event at Quaker Station, named after The Quaker Oats Co., which left Akron in the 1970s.
- For roughly an hour, constituents asked Sykes about everything from immigration to lowering the cost of living and a lack of civility in politics.
Akron is known as the rubber capital of the world, where tire giants like Goodyear set up shop. But the industry declined in the 1980s and many manufacturing jobs were lost.
- The tech hub could create 6,351 jobs and bring in $1.8 billion in direct private investment over 10 years, per its application.
2. Part II: CHIPS jobs impact
Overall, CHIPS is projected to create over 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs across the country.
Threat level: Former President Trump recently bashed CHIPS as "so bad." But the law has strong bipartisan support, and even Republicans who didn't vote for it are touting it on the campaign trail.
Sykes, however, warned that Republican control of the White House or Congress would jeopardize environmental and labor protections as the law is implemented.
- "We want to make sure that this development is happening, but it has to be in a way in which we are not ruining the environment in the process," Sykes said.
Our thought bubble: With jobs at stake, both parties are veering from their usual positions.
- CHIPS sustainability projects are so intertwined with economic opportunity that they're likely to survive even as other efforts to tackle climate change are threatened by Trump.
- And President Biden recently signed a law to exempt certain CHIPS projects from environmental reviews to speed up efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
What they're saying: Ohio AFL-CIO president Tim Burga said that for the first time, he's seeing a shift in how politicians talk about these issues where it's not either the environment or jobs — but both.
- "My grandfather, he left the eighth grade, went into the coal mines and spent his whole work life there. I suspect he would have been just fine working on a solar farm, as long as you can take care of your family, right?" Burga said.
The bottom line: Back at the Quaker Station, amid a laundry list of legislative pushes, Sykes sprinkled in CHIPS.
"I assisted in securing Akron's regional tech hub application, just one of seven in the country, that will create good paying jobs right here in Ohio's 13th congressional district," she told the crowd.
3. What we're hearing: Tying CHIPS to democracy
Proponents of the CHIPS and Science Act say the law has the potential to help stabilize the country's democracy.
Why it matters: In recent elections, where politicians say core democratic values are on the line, backers of the law see an opportunity to connect the dots between economic prosperity and a restoration of people's faith in institutions.
What they're saying: "This concept of a flyover state — people think that there's nothing, that technology only happens in Silicon Valley, but it's happening everywhere," former Economic Development Administration assistant secretary Alejandra Castillo told Maria.
- "And there's nothing more that insults the soul than when people are not seen and this program lets us put a magnifying glass on these places."
- Those are the places where industries have left people without jobs and people are the most politically "torn apart," Castillo, a fall 2024 Institute of Politics fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, continued.
- "So bringing back opportunities — I think that this is going to be not just a big economic boost, but also a huge opportunity to really shore up our democracy."
The bottom line: CHIPS gets tied to lofty goals from national security to protecting the environment, but the government has a long way to go to prove to communities across the country the investments will bear fruit.
By: Maria Curi
Source: Axios