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The Blast: Cruz’s detailed defense of his CHIPS vote [1]

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Date: 2024-11

Oct 28, 2024 | View in browser

By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team

4 days until early voting ends

8 days until the general election

Cruz shows nuance in chips op-ed The following op-ed headline in The Dallas Morning News this a.m. may have raised the eyebrows of some chips-loving Texans given the author’s mixed record on the issue:



“Ted Cruz: Bipartisan work brought microchip jobs to Texas”



Yes, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz voted against the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, citing the “corporate welfare” provision of the bill even though he’d cosponsored a major component of the legislation. However, in today’s op-ed, Cruz’s focus is on the Building Chips in America Act, a sequel to the 2022 law that Cruz worked on with U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona.



Unsaid in Cruz’s opinion piece is that his opponent, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, was an initial cosponsor of the House version of the bill, the one Kelly brought to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee before Cruz, the committee’s ranking Republican, got involved.



If you’ve been following, you probably know this boiled into a dispute between the Cruz and Allred campaigns over who deserves how much credit. However, in this opinion piece, Cruz offers his most detailed explanation of what he believes went wrong with the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, at least that The Blast has seen.



“I was forced to vote against the final 2022 version because it gave tens of billions of taxpayer dollars directly to extremely profitable multinational corporations. I oppose corporate welfare; it far too often leads to corruption,” Cruz wrote. Not particularly new.



“My concerns have unfortunately been realized,” he continued. “Micron, which will get over $6 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars, recently announced it had begun construction on a new semiconductor packaging and testing plant in China. Similarly, unable to get progressive bills through Congress, the administration has improperly conditioned CHIPS and Science Act grants on companies adopting green energy and liberal social policies.”



Cruz’s opinion comes amid the campaigns’ contest over who is the better bipartisan lawmaker.



The Dallas Morning News gave Cruz and Allred the opportunity to submit op-eds during the campaign. Allred’s op-ed ran last month and focuses on the tax proposals.



Neither are as flashy as an article on the border, abortion or transgender issues, which have sucked up a lot of the oxygen in the race. However, they provide some details and nuance on the meat and potatoes of politics.

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Senators flock to Texas Texas could decide the control of the Senate, and multiple senators have come and will continue to come to the Lone Star State to stump for their party’s candidates, a sign both sides are taking the race seriously.



U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will be extending his lead for those tracking the number of surrogate senators. So far, we’ve seen U.S. Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah and Roger Marshall of Kansas stump for Cruz, and earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred had U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey in Houston. This week, Cruz will have U.S. Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Tom Cotton of Arkansas while Allred will have U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia.



That’s a lot of lawmakers flying south for some warmer weather.



Cruz has name-dropped Warnock when talking about his bipartisan work in the Senate, referring to their effort to extend Interstate 14 to Georgia, giving Warnock an opening for a strong message on Cruz’s bipartisanship. Warnock also carries the experience of flipping a red Sun Belt state in the 2020 cycle, which he did along with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and reaffirmed in 2022.



Allred will take a swing through the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday and will be in Dallas on Saturday for a get-out-the-vote event.



See their schedules below.



Cruz



Today: Conroe with U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama; former Ambassador Richard Grenell; and U.S. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Willis Tomorrow: Pleasanton (Jourdanton)

Dripping Springs Wednesday: Brenham with U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton , R-Arkansas

, R-Arkansas Georgetown with Cotton Thursday: Killeen

Allred



Tomorrow: Houston women’s health roundtable with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock , D-Georgia

, D-Georgia Houston Black business leaders roundtable with Warnock

Houston get-out-the-vote event with Warnock Wednesday: Edinburg with former Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia

Alamo with U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen; congressional candidate Michelle Vallejo; and state Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-Brownsville Saturday: Dallas

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TLBC Chair Ron Reynolds on Texas Tech kicker’s shirt The Texas Legislative Black Caucus is accusing Texas Tech University of allowing a “troubling double standard” to exist on campus after the team’s kicker, Reese Burkhardt, flashed a homemade Trump 2024 shirt Saturday after scoring on a fake field goal.



In a statement, Rep, Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, said the state has banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campus, but “displays of ‘MAGA’ ideology … are given a pass.”



“As a state, we’ve banned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to ‘remove politics’ from our schools,” he said. “Yet here we are, allowing a partisan message on the playing field — a message that embodies deeply political views that are exclusionary by nature. It sends a clear signal that some perspectives are allowed, while others are not.”



He urged the university to provide a “balanced, politically neutral environment.” The Dallas Morning News reported Monday that Tech football coach Joey McGuire said the message was “ill timed” and was handled internally.



Burkhardt missed his first field goal of the season during the game Saturday against Texas Christian University. Tech lost to TCU by one point.



— Kate McGee

Leach in apparent violation amid Roberson effort Excerpt from Kayla Guo and Pooja Salhotra’s story in The Texas Tribune:



State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, texted a Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge last week that death row inmate Robert Roberson deserves a new trial, an apparent violation of Texas’ disciplinary rules of professional conduct.



…



“I’ve wracked my brain about whether I should send you this message … about where I can even send you this message legally and ethically,” wrote Leach, who is a member of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence and one of the driving forces behind the effort to stop Roberson’s execution. “There are too many questions and too many holes and too much uncertainty … and Robert Roberson deserves a new trial.”



Read the details at texastribune.org.

HIDDEN IMAGE Gov. Greg Abbott will continue to stump for state House candidates this week.



Tomorrow: HD-112: State Rep. Angie Chen Button in Garland Wednesday: HD-121: Marc LaHood in San Antonio TX-SEN: The latest New York Times/Siena College poll gives U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a 4-point lead over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, although an Allred internal hype poll claims the race is tied.



CD-15: U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, will hold a “Jim Wells County Meet and Greet” in Alice tomorrow.



HD-55: After The Blast’s entry on Friday about outgoing state Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple, telling public education voters to support the Democrat as his successor, Democrat Jennifer Lee began campaigning off Shine’s words.



HD-118: Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg endorsed Democrat Kristian Carranza in her race against state Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio.

HIDDEN IMAGE U.S. Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas, will vote early in Austin tomorrow morning.

, R-Texas, will vote early in Austin tomorrow morning. Comedian and Austinite Tony Hinchcliffe is getting backlash from Republicans and Democrats for likening Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage” in his speech at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. Some will call it a joke. Others will call it racist rhetoric. Regardless, some of Trump’s allies are denouncing the comment.

HIDDEN IMAGE Do you or someone in your office have a new job you’d like mentioned? Email us. Texans for Affordable Healthcare has named Annie Spilman as its executive director, replacing Mia McCord. Spilman is a Capitol veteran who most recently served as the state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

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HIDDEN IMAGE HIDDEN IMAGE

HIDDEN IMAGE Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.



(Oct. 29) State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston

(Oct. 29) State Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown

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[1] Url: https://mailchi.mp/texastribune/the-blast-cruzs-detailed-defense-of-his-chips-vote

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