Technology and Innovation
The governor's tour on Tuesday comes after she, Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Suzanne Bonamici announced the development of the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness Taskforce in early February.
"What we're going to do is make sure a portion of those funds come back to Oregon to support what we do," Al Thompson, Intel's vice president for government relations, said last week on a conference call with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. The call was part of an effort to rally support for legislation supporting the domestic semiconductor industry.
Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
Quality careers have the power to transform lives, families and our economy. Unfortunately, not everyone has equal access to the pathways that lead to the good-paying, in-demand careers we need to fill. Oregon has long faced a skills gap, and the pandemic made it even more clear that our workforce system is not accessible for everyone. Many Oregonians lost their jobs in the past two years, with communities of color, rural communities, and people with low incomes hit the hardest.
Intel's decision to site its multibillion-dollar factory expansion in Ohio rang alarm bells across Oregon last month. In response, more than two dozen of the state's top political and business leaders have joined a task force aiming at renewing Oregon's chip industry. In addition to chairs Wyden, Pope and Brown, the task force's roster includes Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley.
The Department of Energy and Oregon State entered into a partnership in 2016 to build the PacWave South facility for exploring how to harness the carbon-free wave energy created from wind blowing over the surface of the sea. PacWave South, prepermitted by the DOE, is designed to alleviate the challenges associated with testing technologies in the open ocean. "PacWave in Oregon is at the forefront of wave energy, thanks in large part to the visionary researchers at Oregon State University," said U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici.
"PacWave in Oregon is at the forefront of wave energy, thanks in large part to the visionary researchers at Oregon State University," U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici said. "This federal investment of $25 million will allow innovative technologies from across the country, including one from Portland State University, to be tested right here in Oregon, bringing us closer to realizing the potential of this tremendous resource."
Promise King, North Portland
Bipartisan legislation enabling Medicare to cover MCED is before Congress. I'm grateful Oregon's own Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Congressman Peter DeFazio and Congressman Kurt Schrader are all supporters.