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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
AKRON, Ohio — At a lunch in an old, refurbished train station earlier this month, Rep. Emilia Sykes faced many questions from the audience but no one mentioned the CHIPS and Science Act.
Why it matters: The law is among the most significant accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, but politicians like Sykes are boiling down the sprawling, multi-billion dollar package into an idea that resonates better with voters — jobs.
Zoom in: Sykes is in a competitive race for Ohio's 13th district, one of the few places in the country that won CHIPS money for a tech hub that is focused on sustainable plastics and rubbers.
- The freshman lawmaker advocated for Akron's tech hub application and helped secure its approval.
- "When I got to Congress, I said, 'Let me figure out how I can be helpful here. This is a big deal, and polymers is really how we made our mark,'" she told Axios in the lobby of an Akron hotel after the event.
- Sykes asked to be on House Science's Science, Space and Technology panel, where she said she studied up on the issue, met the right players and advocated for the district.
- Beyond the tech hub, Ohio is home to several other CHIPS and Science Act-related investments.
Now Sykes and other Ohio lawmakers are touting that track record in a context different from wonky science advancements or the global tech race to beat out China.
- Sykes: "It's being able to distill it into: this means jobs, this means opportunity. This means being able to live your American dream here. You don't have to seek it elsewhere."
- Her Republican opponent, Kevin Coughlin, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But according to his campaign website, Coughlin believes economic growth happens by supporting oil, gas and renewable energy projects.
The local press club hosted the event at Quaker Station, named after The Quaker Oats Co., which left Akron in the 1970s.
- For roughly an hour, constituents asked Sykes about everything from immigration to lowering the cost of living and a lack of civility in politics.
Akron is known as the rubber capital of the world, where tire giants like Goodyear set up shop. But the industry declined in the 1980s and many manufacturing jobs were lost.
- The tech hub could create 6,351 jobs and bring in $1.8 billion in direct private investment over 10 years, per its application.
Zoom out: Overall, CHIPS is projected to create over 115,000 manufacturing and construction jobs across the country.
Threat level: Former President Trump recently bashed CHIPS as "so bad." But the law has strong bipartisan support, and even Republicans who didn't vote for it are touting it on the campaign trail.
Sykes, however, warned that Republican control of the White House or Congress would jeopardize environmental and labor protections as the law is implemented.
- "We want to make sure that this development is happening, but it has to be in a way in which we are not ruining the environment in the process," Sykes said.
Our thought bubble: With jobs at stake, both parties are veering from their usual positions.
- CHIPS sustainability projects are so intertwined with economic opportunity that they're likely to survive even as other efforts to tackle climate change are threatened by Trump.
- And President Biden recently signed a law to exempt certain CHIPS projects from environmental reviews to speed up efforts to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
What they're saying: Ohio AFL-CIO president Tim Burga said that for the first time, he's seeing a shift in how politicians talk about these issues where it's not either the environment or jobs — but both.
- "My grandfather, he left the eighth grade, went into the coal mines and spent his whole work life there. I suspect he would have been just fine working on a solar farm, as long as you can take care of your family, right?" Burga said.
CHIPS requires award recipients to provide certain worker benefits, such as childcare, another area Sykes said Republicans could pour cold water on as women in the workforce are desperately needed.
- Sykes noted Ohio is one of the worst states in the country for childcare and could "stand to lose a lot" if those benefits are stripped.
The bottom line: Back at the Quaker Station, amid a laundry list of legislative pushes, Sykes sprinkled in CHIPS.
- "I assisted in securing Akron's regional tech hub application, just one of seven in the country, that will create good paying jobs right here in Ohio's 13th congressional district," she told the crowd.
