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Georgia House panel advances Richard H. Smith CHIPS Act to rules committee
Summary
The House Economic Development & Tourism Committee voted by voice to advance the Richard H. Smith CHIPS Advancement in Research and Economic Development Act to the rules committee after a presentation by Rep. Vance Smith outlining a three-year commission to attract semiconductor manufacturing to Georgia.
Representative Vance Smith presented the Richard H. Smith CHIPS Advancement in Research and Economic Development Act to the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee and the committee moved the bill to the rules committee after a voice vote.
Rep. Vance Smith, who identified himself as the bill’s presenter and as the representative for District 138, told the committee the bill creates a time-limited commission to coordinate higher-education partners and industry stakeholders to encourage semiconductor manufacturing and packaging to locate in Georgia. “The goal is to send the correct message outside of this building, to the industry and let them know that we in Georgia would love for them to come and locate here,” Smith said.
Under the draft bill shown to the committee, the commission’s responsibilities include working with the state’s higher-education institutions and industry participants; the bill sets out appointment authority for the governor, the speaker of the House and the lieutenant governor and contains a sunset date of June 30, 2028. Smith told members Georgia Tech recently received a federal grant described in his remarks as a roughly $100,000,000 award over five years and said the bill gives the higher-education system “an outline of what we’d like for them to do.”
Smith acknowledged stakeholder engagement in drafting the measure, naming meetings with the Georgia Department of Community Housing (DCH), economic development staff and local groups including the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and the “Chips for Chips” effort. Bill Dudley of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce was introduced in the room as a stakeholder; Ben Mosier of United Way was named by Smith as a leader of the Columbus group.
Chairman Josh Stevens called for a voice vote after the presentation. Smith said he heard a motion to “do pass,” and Stevens recorded the result as the bill moving on to the rules committee after members answered “aye.” No roll-call tally was recorded in the committee minutes or transcript.
The bill as presented is brief and framed as an economic-development signaling mechanism intended to coordinate academia, state agencies and private-sector partners to pursue semiconductor projects in Georgia.
