Electronics Manufacturing Industry Calls on Congress to Pass New COVID Recovery Bill With Pro-Industrial-Base Provisions

IPC is calling on the U.S. Congress to enact a COVID-19 recovery bill and include provisions of importance to everyone who depends on electronics. 

In a letter to the top four leaders in Congress, IPC stresses that electronics are at the heart of the modern economy and key sectors, including urgently needed medical equipment, critical infrastructure, and defense systems. “Yet, the crisis has exposed vulnerabilities in our manufacturing base,” the letter adds.

The association urges Congress to support the nation’s industrial resiliency by passing a Recovery Package with the following measures:

• Modified unemployment insurance benefit to continue essential support for laid-off workers, helping to maintain consumer demand while reducing disincentives to return to work.

• Common-sense liability protections shielding businesses that have taken “reasonable steps” to comply with government workplace safety guidelines.

• Paycheck Protection Program extension and the Safe and Healthy Workplace tax credit.

• Supplementary funding to sustain and rebuild the defense industrial base.

• Aid to state and local governments to ensure essential services are maintained.

The timing and scope of the legislation are still being worked out, but a package is expected to be negotiated and voted upon soon.

IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 5,900 member-company sites which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, market research and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry. IPC maintains additional offices Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Miami, Fla.; Brussels, Belgium; Bangalore and New Delhi, India; Bangkok, Thailand; and Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Beijing, China.