House passes CHIPS Act, preparing semiconductor bill to become law

The last major hurdle has been cleared by the legislation. The CHIPS and Science Act was passed by the House in a vote of 243-189, leaving just the reconciliation process and President Biden's signature to become law. On the same day, the Senate measure passed 64-33.

The Act is a scaled-down version of previous bills. Tax credits for domestic factories and US chipmakers are offered. The president claimed that the bill would lower product costs, create high paying jobs and reduce the country's dependence on foreign chip sources.

Both sides of congress objected to earlier approaches. Climate, health and tax elements were concerns of Republicans. It risked funding Chinese manufacturing. The only non-Republican in the Senate to vote against the bill was Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who was concerned that the bill might reward chip manufacturers already rolling in cash.

Production won't be affected by the CHIPS and Science Act. It will take a long time for companies to build new factories and upgrade their facilities. CHIPS will hopefully decrease the severity of future supply chain crunches if things play out as expected.