No matter which way you look at it, the Oregon CHIPS Act is costing taxpayer millions. The Act was passed in 2023 with a $210 million price tag. House Bill 4098, specifically provided that $190 million be allocated for grants and loans to semiconductor companies, $10 million for research at universities and $10 million to help with land development costs. But before it could be spent, Governor Kotek has robbed the fund of $5 million to help fund the new Oregon CHIPS Child Care Fund. So, which fund is she robing in Senate Bill 4 (2023)?

SB 4 authorizes the Governor to make final decisions allowing grants to exceed the $25 million limit and to give preference to disadvantaged individuals. House Bill 4098 allocates $2.5 million, plus the Governor's new exercise of power brings the total starting capacity of the fund to $7.5 million.

Governor Kotek said, “Every family should have access to affordable, quality child care options when they need them. With the Oregon CHIPS Child Care Fund, Oregon is taking up the call from the Biden-Harris Administration to set a plan in place to address child care supply and affordability for apprentices and journey workers in the semiconductor supply chain. This initial investment expedites the opportunity to support working families in Oregon.”

What seems to be a generous grant to allow parents to retrain in an up-and-coming industry that needs workers, it creates questions of constitutionality and government picking winners and losers. Testimony brought out “entitlement” and socialism shifting taxpayer funds from needed services to growing government. Others think it’s another step towards putting all pre-school children under government control. “Any time responsibility is abrogated, there is a price attached.”

“Access to affordable, high-quality child care is crucial for fostering workforce diversity and ensuring equal opportunities in emerging industries,” Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson said. “We’re so excited to build on the established program housed at the Bureau of Labor and Industries to provide child care support to even more members of the building and construction trades. The CHIPS Child Care fund will not only help more Oregonians enter the building and construction trades by providing subsidies for child care during apprenticeship, but also help those same working families stay in the trade by continuing to provide support after recent graduation.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

“A skilled workforce is the backbone of a business, and Oregonians with families cannot thrive without having safe, local, child care options they can afford,” Business Oregon Director Sophorn Cheang said. “This program plays a big part in addressing this need within the semiconductor sector and can serve as a model for other industries in years to come.”

The Oregon CHIPS Child Care Fund directs Business Oregon to work with the Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) to build off of the agency’s existing successful Apprenticeship-Related Child Care (ARCC) program to help fund child care for workers in the semiconductor supply chain. House Bill 4098 also directs funding to the existing Business Oregon Child Care Infrastructure Program to help support critical child care investments in regions where CHIPS Act investments are being made.

Business Oregon will enter into an interagency agreement with BOLI to develop and administer the Oregon CHIPS Child Care Fund. Business Oregon will also establish a work group to adopt recommendations for requiring certain businesses to make a financial contribution to the CHIPS Child Care Fund. The work group will report to the committees of the Legislative Assembly related to child care and workforce development by November 15, 2024.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-04-18 20:13:54

Last Update: 2024-04-18 20:47:14