S. 229 would direct the Department of Commerce, through its SelectUSA program, to solicit comments from state economic development organizations about how to support foreign direct investment in semiconductor production. The bill also would require the department to report to the Congress on strategies that SelectUSA could implement to increase such investment.
Using information from the department, CBO expects SelectUSA would need two employees and six contractors for about two years at an average cost of $250,000 each to carry out the comment solicitation process and complete the required report. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing S. 229 would cost $4 million over the 2023-2028 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
On March 16, 2023, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 752, the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2023, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 9, 2023. The two bills are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.