Today, Senator Reverend Warnock voted the pass the jobs and competition bill through the United States Senate; the legislation passed 64-33 with strong bipartisan support

Senator Reverend Warnock has been integral to passing this legislation and has used his position on the Commerce Committee, his role as a lead negotiator on the bill’s final text, and his bully pulpit to pressure House and Senate leadership, as well as his Congressional colleagues, to get the legislation over the finish line

Senator Reverend Warnock has pushed House and Senate leadership for legislative action, highlighted the bill’s Georgia impacts on the Senate floor, grilled Administration officials on implementation, and participated in multiple visits around the state in support of this legislation

Senator Reverend Warnock: “This legislation will help lower costs, create Georgia jobs, and ensure Georgia workers are ready to compete in a changing economy. I’ve been proud to play an integral role in getting this legislation over the finish line in the Senate, and I urge my friends in the House to quickly follow suit.”

ICYMI: Senator Reverend Warnock Joins Senate Leaders to Urge Passage of Bipartisan Competition Legislation Critical to Georgia’s Economy

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and the Conference Committee for the jobs and competition bill, voted to pass long-awaited bipartisan legislation to invest in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and make once-in-a-generation investments in STEM, workforce training, and research and development.  These federal investments in making more chips in the United States, and increasing funding for science-related research and development, will create and support good-paying jobs throughout the state, and will work to drive down rising costs by strengthening broken international supply chains. The

“Georgia’s economy stands to win big from the jobs and competition bill passed today,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.“This legislation will help lower costs, create Georgia jobs, and ensure Georgia workers are ready to compete in a changing economy. I’ve been proud to play an integral role in getting this legislation over the finish line in the Senate, and I urge my friends in the House to quickly follow suit. I’ll continue to use my oversight role on the Commerce Committee to ensure this legislation is quickly and effectively implemented.”

Senator Warnock has prioritized robust domestic chip manufacturing funding since he took office. Senator Warnock specifically secured a provision in an earlier version of the competition bill to support companies like the KIA facility in West Point, Georgia, which has been forced to shut down operations multiple times due to the chips shortage. The Senator pushed Senate leaders to quickly pass robust competition legislation in May 2021, February 2022, and July 2022. The Senator visited the West Point KIA plant in June 2021 and October 2021 to see firsthand the impact of this shortage on Georgia workers. Additionally, the Senator has stayed in close contact with KIA executives on his work on this issue, including meeting with them in his DC office in May 2021. In April 2021, October 2021, March 2022, and April 2022, the Senator used his role on the Commerce Committee to highlight the need for domestic chip manufacturing and to push administration officials to take action on the shortage. The Senator was appointed by the Senate to represent Georgian on the jobs and competition bill conference committee in the spring, and has spoken on the Senate floor multiple times in support of this bill, most recently last week.

Additionally, Senator Warnock has pushed tirelessly for additional funding for STEM education, especially for HBCU’s and MSI’s. As an HBCU graduate, Senator Warnock has seen first-hand how HBCU’s have, for centuries, punched way above their weight. That’s why the Senator has prioritized securing generous STEM investments for all Georgia students, including HBCU and MSI, rural schools, as well as colleges and universities that may not traditionally receive federal STEM funding. In February 2022, Senator Warnock pressured House leadership to pass robust funding for HBCU’s STEM programs and worked closely with Congresswoman Alma Adams to get that legislation over the finish line. The Senator outlined his priorities on the Senate floor and secured Senate support for his provision to bolster HBCU research capacity. The Senator has also championed the creation of regional technology hubs, including visiting a pilot program of one of these hubs at Georgia Tech with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in December 2021. MIT researchers identified Warner Robins, Columbus, Savannah, and Sandy Springs as ideal locations for more of these hubs.

Economic Wins for Georgia: Key Highlights of the Bipartisan Competition Bill: 

1. Chips: The bill contains roughly $52 billion in investments and tax incentives that will boost the production of semiconductors, or chips, in the United States—helping lower costs on everyday goods by tightening broken international supply chains. Additionally, $2 billion of this funding will focus exclusively on legacy chip production, a provision championed by Senator Warnock that will specifically benefit Georgia automakers like KIA, whose West Point, GA facility employs roughly 2,700 Georgians and has experienced work stoppages due to the national semiconductor shortage; this will help sustain those jobs by preventing another work stoppage at the plant because of a lack of chips.

2. Suppliers: At Senator Warnock’s urging, the bill contains language making other suppliers in the semiconductor industry eligible for these federal chips investments. This will directly benefit economic engines like SKC Group’s forthcoming high-tech facility in Covington, Georgia that will manufacture glass-based substrates for semiconductor chips, creating an estimated 400 new jobs in Newton County.

3. Small Business: The bill triples funding to a program that supports small- and medium-sized manufacturers with cybersecurity, workforce training, and supply chain resiliency, to a total of $2 billion, and creates a National Supply Chain Database to assist businesses with supplier scouting and to help minimize supply chain disruptions.

4. Research: As part of new investments in the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $81 billion over five years, Senator Warnock secured substantial funding to strengthen research capacity at Georgia HBCUs and other small institutions that don’t have the resources to compete with larger institutions for federal research dollars. These key investments will help institutions like Savannah State University, Middle Georgia State University, Columbus State University and more get their fair share of federal research dollars to grow new jobs, bring new innovations to market and create new economic opportunities.

5. Workforce: The bill makes major investments through NSF in STEM education to train workers for the jobs of the future, including increasing access to STEM education opportunities in rural schools and providing rural educators with the resources they need to teach more effectively, as modeled by Senator Warnock’s Rural STEM Education Act. 

6. Regional Tech Hubs: The bill also directs NSF to use $10 billion to create up to 20 “regional technology hubs” that will focus on technology development, job creation, and expanding America’s innovation capacity. These investments build on existing workforce and infrastructure investments to develop new economic opportunities within the region. According to researchers, Georgia cities like Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus and Macon are all prime candidates for investments to become new regional technology hubs, funding which will help create new local jobs and training opportunities for hardworking Georgians.

For more information about Senator Warnock’s leadership in passing the bipartisan competition bill, visit HERE. 

###