A bipartisan group of governors from nine states sent a letter on Wednesday to the U.S. lawmakers urging them to pass subsidies for semiconductor factories that would produce chips for cars.
The governors, who include Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, called for Congress to pass the $52 billion CHIPS Act, which would set aside $2 billion for the kind of older technology chips of which there is a deep shortage in the automotive industry.
The group, which includes governors of auto-producing states like Alabama, said the shortage had costs.
automakers were affected by 3.2 million vehicles and affected 575,000 jobs in the industry.
The global auto chip shortage has hit Michigan and states across the country hard, idling plants and slowing production, threatening thousands of auto-related jobs up and down the supply chain, Whitmer said in a statement. It s clear that we're not going to protect jobs if we're going to maintain our competitive edge. The U.S. Senate passed by 68 -- 32 semiconductor funding earlier this year as part of the broader U.S. It has not passed the House of Representatives.
Elements of the broader bill havedrew opposition from some House members who worry that it does not have safeguards to prevent research funds from benefiting China, the United States' primary global competitor.
The House of Representatives has its own priorities with regards to the policies and programs included in USICA, and we hope the two chambers will find common ground with regard to this legislation, including full funding for the CHIPS Act re-shoring provisions, as soon as possible, the governors wrote.
Governors of California, Kansas, and Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois were signed the letter.