PORTLAND, OR -- President Biden signed the CHIPS Act earlier this week, to increase domestic semiconductor production. "From the time you get up in the morning, til the time you go to bed at night, you’re using chips," Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) tells KBND News. Semiconductor chips are in everything from cars, to smartphone to vacuum cleaners. Wyden believes making them in the U.S. will lower consumer costs, "If you can manufacture in the United States, you’re not subject to the same kind of cost-boosting supply chain disruptions that stem from China and around the world."

An Oregon tech company stands to gain a lot from the $52 billion bill. Wyden says Hillsboro-based Intel will get a piece of that funding for research, "The fact that they are going to be in a position to do even more in the research and development area is going to be a big boost in Oregon. In my view, it’s going to create additional economic opportunities. And then, on top of that, is the provision I wrote as Chairman of the Finance Committee, to increase domestic manufacturing."