Leaders of an Oregon legislative panel that’s considering incentives for semiconductor manufacturers say the committee could vote on the proposal soon.
The $200 million dollar package, known as Senate Bill 4, would create grants and loans meant to leverage the federal CHIPS act.
Supporters say state investments in the semiconductor industry are meant to create high-paying jobs that could stick around for generations.
“It’s less about corporate welfare and more about the future for our children," said Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, who co-chairs the committee. "That’s where we’re focusing on, and the shared prosperity around the state.”
Bynum spoke after a tour of a Hewlett-Packard facility in Corvallis that was given to three of the top lawmakers on the semiconductor committee. Besides Bynum, the tour included Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, who also serves as a co-chair, and Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, who serves as a vice-chair on the panel.
"I'm a fiscal conservative but I'm one-hundred percent sold on this project," said Wallan.
Those three lawmakers were joined by Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, who doesn't serve on the committee but whose district includes the Corvallis campus of HP.
Reporters were invited to a brief presentation in the "visitors lobby" of the HP facility, where HP executives gave a brief presentation about the company but did not take questions from the press. Reporters were then asked to exit the building while lawmakers received a tour of areas of the facility that included "proprietary information."
HP, Inc reported $63 billion in revenue during the most recent fiscal year. The company said its Corvallis facility was established in 1976 and is the workplace for approximately 2,500 "employees and contractors."
Another hearing on the package is scheduled for Wednesday evening. The measure already has drawn testimony from dozens of supporters and opponents, with some opposed to the bill expressing concern at a provision that would allow Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek the authority to redraw urban growth boundaries to pave the way for new semiconductor manufacturing facilities.
