ST. LOUIS–Missouri’s push to be a player in the world of technology manufacturing will get a $15 million boost through recently signed state legislation celebrated by Gov. Mike Parson, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and others in the Cortex district Thursday morning.

House Bill 3007 included $15 million to fund grants to produce semiconductor computer chips and active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API. 

In November 2021, the Food and Drug Administration said nearly 78% of the manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients are located overseas. Semiconductor shortages have plagued industries from automobiles to consumer electronics in recent years. 

What You Need To Know

  • Missouri House Bill 3007 included $15 million for grants to produce semiconductor computer chips and active pharmaceutical ingredients
  • FDA: nearly 78 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers are overseas
  • Congress working to pass $52 billion in semiconductor incentives for domestic production

“One of the biggest lessons we learned during the pandemic is that our economy has become too reliant on other countries to manufacture the things we need. Global supply chain problems have made it harder for American companies to meet demand, and we’re still facing shortages even today,” Gov. Parson said. “We need to rely less on other companies and bring critical manufacturing back to the United States and we want to do everything we can to bring these jobs to Missouri.”

“It is an intense competition for those dollars and for those jobs and if we don’t show up in a global way, in a collaborative way, creating certainty that we want that money and that investment here, it will go to other places,” said Jason Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Greater St. Louis, Inc., the regional civic organization. 

The Missouri legislation comes as lawmakers in Washington could vote as early as next week on a bill that would include $52 billion in grants tax credits and other financial incentives for companies that build semiconductor manufacturing plants in the U.S.

Both the House and Senate have passed sweeping bills that included numerous trade provisions, additional dollars for research and called for the development of regional technology hubs across the country. But lawmakers have struggled to reach a final compromise that could generate 60 votes in the Senate, the number needed to overcome procedural hurdles.

Lacking a larger agreement, Schumer, D-N.Y., will move to take up a “limited competition bill” that includes the $52 billion in financial incentives and research that was at the heart of the bills passed in the House and the Senate. It would also include a semiconductor investment tax credit, and additional pieces could be added if they’re ready.

Schumer's plans were described by a person familiar with the private deliberations who was granted anonymity to discuss them.

The Biden administration has ramped up its advocacy for the semi-conductor bill in recent days, calling it essential that lawmakers take action before the August recess.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other administration officials met behind closed doors with senators on Wednesday to discuss the national security ramifications of relying on foreign countries for computer chip production.

“Bottom line is there are very real, very devastating consequences if Congress doesn’t do its job in the month of July,” Raimondo said. 

Raimondo says computer chipmakers are already being offered lucrative incentives from other countries such as South Korea, Japan, France, Germany and Singapore to locate plants there. She cited Monday’s announcement by STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries to build a semiconductor factory in France as an example of other countries moving faster than the U.S. on the issue.