Biggs opposed CHIPS law that’ll bring jobs to his district

President Joe Biden stopped in Chandler this week to announce an $8.5 billion federal grant that is expected to create thousands of jobs, many of them in Rep. Andy Biggs’ district.

But Biggs, R-Ariz., was not there to celebrate the investment. In fact, he was unreachable on the topic.

Biggs, like the vast majority of House Republicans, voted against the CHIPS and Science Act, the Biden priority legislation that provided for large investments in semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy and infrastructure. Biden

has championed the law as a way to create jobs in service of the administration’s other goals, such as building out domestic supply chains and decarbonizing America’s energy grid.

Now, as that money gets doled out, some GOP lawmakers are in the awkward position of having voted against legislation that is sending a substantial economic stimulus into the communities they represent.

This week’s announcement was an $8.5 billion grant for the technology company Intel, which has been expanding its semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Chandler. The government could make up to $11 billion in loans available as well, plus a federal investment tax credit that would allow Intel to write off 25% of certain expenses.

Add to that the “multiplier effect” the investment could have on Arizona’s economy. Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel’s chief operations officer, said on Wednesday that there’s often a 13-times multiplier effect on local communities, meaning that each dollar invested by Intel in Chandler will engender $13 in other investments from local suppliers and even secondary concerns such as hotels.

“When we come (to a community), the suppliers come with us,” Esfarjani said.

“We’re creating jobs in America, and exporting American products. But my predecessor and his allies in Congress want to go back.” President Joe Biden

The Biden administration claims the investment will create 10,000 manufacturing and construction jobs in Arizona, and will support thousands more jobs indirectly.

The event took place at Intel’s Ocotillo Campus, which is in the Biggs-represented 5th Congressional District on the western edge.

Biggs has kept a low profile on the topic. His public statements on the 2022 semiconductor law are scarce and he did not respond this week to multiple requests for comment after Biden’s announcement.

Republicans’ arguments against the law have tended to center around concerns about federal spending or interference with the free market. Arizona’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, called the CHIPS Act “corporate cronyism” in a news release this week, saying it unfairly favors some companies rather than fostering competition in a free market.

Arizona’s other House Republicans in office at the time, Reps. David Schweikert, Debbie Lesko, and Paul Gosar, voted against the CHIPS Act as well.

Lesko said after the 2022 vote that she supports building out domestic semiconductor supply chains, but there weren’t sufficient “guardrails” to prevent companies from using the funds to build out their operations in China.

Aides to Schweikert, Lesko and Gosar did not respond to The Republic’s requests for comment.

Republicans also critiqued the finer points of the law. Former President Donald Trump’s campaign circulated an oped this week which argued that the diversity-focused provisions of the CHIPS Act, which aim to boost minority participation in the new semiconductor supply chains, are preventing the bill from getting off the ground.

That’s a matter of debate among analysts on both sides of the aisle.

Still, some Republicans have applauded investments enabled by legislation they opposed. Last year, Schweikert sent his staff to a groundbreaking ceremony for a solar project that Biden’s climate law made possible.

Earlier this year, Biggs appeared at a ribbon cutting for Saras Micro Devices, a company in the semiconductor supply chain that has credited the CHIPS Act with incentivizing large-scale investments in that sector.

Speaking Wednesday at Intel’s campus, Biden said Republicans were standing in the way of his efforts to resurrect U.S. manufacturing, a goal that Trump and many in the GOP have made a centerpiece of their political platforms.

“We’re creating jobs in America, and exporting American products. But my predecessor and his allies in Congress want to go back,” Biden said.