February 2025

 
 

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February 2025

Washington Whiplash Creates Environment of Uncertainty

The constant churn of actions, pauses, and reversals in the nation’s capital has business and industry organizations, advocates and interest groups, economic development organizations, and Ohio state leaders working to understand how they’ll be impacted by everything from federal funding freezes and mass deportations to federal workforce cuts and foreign policy rollbacks.  

A few of the federal issues garnering significant attention include: 

  1. The potential repeal of laws which contained “pro economic development” provisions and transformational funding such as the CHIPS & Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (aka the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and Inflation Reduction Act;

    • The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 provides funding for a variety of programs over a 10-year period, from 2022-2032; 

    • The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $1.2 trillion in federal funding over five years, from 2022 to 2026; and 

    • The CHIPS Act, signed in 2022, directed the Department of Commerce to expend the funds in five years.

    • Collectively, these laws allowed for:

      • Brownfield clean up which paves the way for site redevelopment; 

      • Rural broadband and infrastructure which support greenfield development; 

      • Tax credits for investments in renewable energy and grid resiliency; 

      • Incentives for businesses to make energy efficiency investments in their facilities; and 

      • On-shoring the semiconductor manufacturing—which would serve as a catalyst for the industry and unprecedented growth in Central Ohio.

  2. The termination of specific programs created under the above laws and/or elimination of the programs’ guidelines that strengthened the competitiveness of the organized electrical contracting industry; 

    • This includes program guidelines and policies which require Project Labor Agreements and expand the types of federally funded or assisted construction projects to which Davis Bacon Act provisions could be applied rather than limiting it to public buildings and public works.

  1. Federal funding freezes which impact industries and organizations that are important to the region such as those related to the EV industry; health and science research; clean energy, and higher education facilities;

    • The elimination of funding for projects and programs to make EV prices more competitive, to advance the availability and adoption of EVs, and support the manufacturing of EV related technologies and materials. 

      • Notable examples of these projects are the $5.4 billion Honda/LG battery plant and the $1 billion to retool three Ohio Honda production plants.

      • Partners such as MORPC have already paused their NEVI-funded EV charging infrastructure projects though the grants were awarded in the summer of 2024.

    • Medical research hospitals, universities, and businesses are in danger of losing tens of millions of dollars under NIH spending cuts.

      • Ohio received more than $1 billion in National Institutes of Health grants in 2024. 

      • This funding is critical to major institutions in Central Ohio such as Batelle, the Ohio State University, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

      • Cuts threaten the life sciences industry, a key growth sector for One Columbus and JobsOhio  

  1. Tariffs on key trading partners will affect major industries in the region such as construction, energy, automotive, and manufacturing. This could:

    • Slow major economic development projects that are already underway as well as those in the pipeline; 

    • Exacerbate the region’s housing shortage by driving up new home prices by as estimated $7500-$10,000; 

    • Delay new utility infrastructure and upgrades that are necessary to meet growing energy demand; and

    • Increase energy prices which diminishes the region’s attractiveness to large energy users.