Progress always has a price tag, but today’s bleeding-edge technologies are unusually capital-intensive — energy-thirsty AI models; difficult-to-manufacture microchips made with rare earth metals; the mystical-looking computers that harness spooky quantum states. One of President Joe Biden’s signature bipartisan achievements was the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, a bill that called for spending billions on spurring chip production and innovation in the U.S., including more than $10 billion to seed new centers developing tech like quantum, biotech and lithium battery development. But as POLITICO’s Christine Mui and Mohar Chatterjee reported in an investigation published today, Congress has come up woefully short in funding a crucial part of the bill. The Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (colloquially referred to as “Tech Hubs”) program was meant, in Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo’s words, to “supercharge innovation across the nation by spurring cutting-edge technological investments and creating 21st century job opportunities in people’s backyards.” The idea was that by spending billions of federal dollars on labs and manufacturing in places like Georgia, Nevada and Washington, the Biden administration could ensure American leadership on key technologies while geographically diversifying the landscape of research and prosperity. Congress delivered on promised funding for semiconductor manufacturing (the “CHIPS” part of “CHIPS and Science”), but has provided less than a fifth of the promised funding in the bill for Tech Hubs. Appropriators in Congress blame — what else — the partisan maneuvering around last year’s debt ceiling bill, which put a lid on non-defense spending. That’s to the chagrin of boosters who say the lack of support for Tech Hubs could lead to a sort of death spiral for similarly ambitious research programs. “This is a missed opportunity,” Shalin Jyotishi, a policy strategist at the New America think tank, told Christine and Mohar, saying “If these appropriations don’t come to be … it’s not going to be a successful pilot of science and tech based industrial policy if that happens, and the political impetus of that is there might be even more of a reluctance for certain members to support programs like this in the future.” Out of the $2.95 billion Congress was directed to appropriate for Tech Hubs over the past two years, the program has received a total of $541 million. Still, the Biden administration has worked hard to keep it in the public eye as much as it reasonably can: In July the Commerce Department announced funding for 12 winning Tech Hub proposals, including projects in key swing states like Georgia and Wisconsin. The announcement was quickly swept away amid President Biden’s debate performance that capsized his run for a second term against former President Donald Trump. Observers now worry that the program will remain unknown in the blitz of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, which they say could cost it the political momentum it needs to secure additional funding. “Literally, Vice President Harris gave the remarks for the Tech Hubs announcement, like her name is on the press release. And then with [Minnesota] Governor [Tim] Walz, you have the direct connection in his state. It’s so unusual that this isn’t made more of a campaign priority,” Jyotishi said. “Messaging is the biggest missing link.” The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform only briefly mentions the program, pledging leadership on “AI, biotech, quantum computing, advanced materials, and more,” which are key elements of Tech Hub projects or proposals. The Harris campaign pointed Christine and Mohar to a recent proposal from the vice president to launch a new network of incubators and innovation hubs, with the goal of making sure small businesses are “reaping the broader benefits of investments in semiconductor factories, Tech Hubs, and more.” Some winners have even checked with Washington that the Tech Hubs money would come through before a new administration is sworn in. “Knock on wood they get it done before the election,” Zachary Yerushalmi, a leader of the Elevate Quantum Tech Hub in Colorado and New Mexico, told Christine and Mohar. Rob Atkinson, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation think tank, initially proposed the Tech Hubs concept in a 2019 paper. He said he believes the Biden administration has hopelessly diluted the program for political reasons, leaving it “virtually nothing like” his original $100 billion proposal, which he wrote should be spread among no more than 10 metro areas. To his point, the hubs that have actually been awarded money are figuring out how to navigate the major bureaucratic project of directing federal dollars toward something scientifically or economically tangible. “Getting all of the paperwork lined up is a pretty hefty effort,” Tim VanReken, regional innovation officer for Montana’s Headwaters Tech Hub, told Christine and Mohar, adding that the hub is largely focused on “road mapping out what our actual implementation work is going to look like.” Some other winners are still optimistic, however, that a decidedly old-school force will ultimately guarantee their futuristic projects’ support: The positive sheen that comes with bringing federal dollars back to your home state in order to keep America numero uno on innovation. “There’s a focus on getting contracts wrapped up, which hopefully will provide everybody with some certainty and predictability,” said Rob Simpson, CEO of the company leading New York’s Tech Hub. “But I’m not losing sleep over it. I look at the bipartisan nature.”
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