AUSTIN — Semiconductor chips such as those that will be manufactured at Taylor’s Samsung Austin Semiconductor plant have a long history in Texas, and state leaders say they are key to the state’s global future.
“Texas is the birthplace of the integrated circuit, and in recent years, Texas has risen to be No. 1 in the United States of America for semiconductor manufacturing,” said Gov. Greg Abbott at a March 15 press conference at the Capitol to champion the proposed Texas Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act, or CHIP.
If enacted, the legislation would create a Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium and Fund to promote further chip-manufacturing growth in the state and cement its leadership nationwide, including through research and development and training programs at institutions of higher learning, officials said.
In November 2021, Abbott and Samsung officials announced the company, with headquarters in South Korea, would construct its newest foundry in Taylor.
The plant, with a startup cost of about $17 billion, is expected to be operational in two years and employ up to 1,800 workers in addition to thousands working at ancillary businesses.
The company offers paid six-week internships to students, including those from Taylor. Samsung’s first local plant opened in Manor in the 1990s.
“Over just the past year and a half, Texas has added billions of dollars of investment by semiconductor companies to expand semiconductor manufacturing capability, including the massive expansion for Samsung (Austin Semiconductor), Texas Instruments, as well as GlobiTech (Inc.),” Abbott added. “But to achieve a promise for the remainder of this century, we need to pass the Texas CHIPS Act.”
Samsung Austin Semiconductor spokeswoman Michele Glaze said her company thinks the bill is needed.
“Samsung supports the efforts by Gov. Abbott and the leadership of the state of Texas in advancing legislation that seeks to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem in Texas,” she said in a prepared statement, adding it would “extend Texas’ efforts in winning semiconductor chip projects and bolstering the industry’s prevalence statewide.”
The governor was joined at the press conference by Texas CHIPS Act authors Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman and House Appropriations Chair Greg Bonnen, as well as state Sen. Brian Birdwell, state representatives Angie Chen Button and John Kuempel, Texas A&M University Chancellor John Sharp, University of Texas President Jay Hartzell, and other higher education, industry and business leaders.
Officials said the consortium would also “sustain Texas leadership in advanced semiconductor research, design and manufacturing; leverage the expertise of Texas’ higher-education institutions and stakeholders to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure future semiconductor innovation; expand workforce development training; and attract new investment to the state for semiconductors.”
Abbott said the reshoring of this industry has become a nationalsecurity issue.
“Microchips and semiconductor chips are used in things we use every day,” Abbott said. “That will be exponentially true with each passing year. Historically, most of those chips have been made in other countries, but supply-chain problems and global conflicts could compromise access to those chips that could cause America to come to a standstill in many of our activities.”
In 2021, Abbott formed the National Semiconductor Centers Task Force, one year before the federal Chips and Science Act was signed into law to encourage U.S. expansion of the silicon chip industry, to bring together state government, industry leaders, higher-education institutions and workforce stakeholders to create a strategic plan to keep Texas a national leader in the semiconductor industry, according to state officials.
Huffman said all of these efforts are part of a larger drive to make Texas a better state to invest in and for workers to seek employment.
“It’s critically important to attracting the industry that we want to attract,” Huffman said. “We look forward to working with university systems as we find the right way to do this to make sure that Texas is number one as we lead the nation.”
Abbott said the CHIPS Act will help Texas stay at the vanguard globally.
“This is a national competition to design and build the future of semiconductors, and it is a race that Texas must win for our state, our workforce, our national security and our future,” Abbott said. “With this legislation, Texas will not only remain No. 1 in America for semiconductors— we will be No. 1 in the world.”
Staff writer Nicole Lessin contributed to this story.
