Congresswoman Torres Calls for Immediate Action After California is Left Out of Federal Manufacturing Funding for Second Year in a Row
The Manufacturing Extension and Partnership program helps small and medium-sized manufacturers strengthen supply chains, expand domestic production, and train workers for high-skilled, good-paying jobs
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and longtime advocate for manufacturing jobs in the Inland Empire, called on the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to immediately restore California’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center after the state was left without federal MEP funding for the second year in a row.
MEP centers play a critical role in helping manufacturers secure their supply chains, expand connections with domestic suppliers, and develop their workforces by creating good-paying, high skill jobs. California has not had an active MEP Center since fall 2025. NIST’s choice to leave out California yet again, despite numerous applicants, means that the largest manufacturing state in the nation and the world’s 4th largest economy will now go more than two years without the expertise, support, and guidance that MEP centers and their networks provide.
On September 15, 2025, the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded more than $30 million to support MEP centers in 11 states and Puerto Rico as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 MEP Center State Competition. At that time, California and Alaska were the only eligible states where no selection was made. NIST’s July funding opportunity anticipated up to $15.6 million annually for a California MEP Center. Now, more than a year later, California’s manufacturers are again being ignored by the Trump Administration.
“California manufacturers should not have to wait another year for resources that businesses across the country are already receiving,” said Congresswoman Torres. “I have repeatedly called for the Department of Commerce to restore California’s MEP Center because I know how important these resources are to manufacturers in the Inland Empire and across our state. Every month of delay means missed opportunities to help small and midsize businesses adopt new technology, strengthen our supply chains, create jobs, and compete in a rapidly changing global economy. This delay cannot become the new normal. The Department of Commerce must work with California stakeholders and ensure a strong MEP Center is restored as quickly as possible. As the largest manufacturing state in the nation, supporting American manufacturing means supporting California manufacturing.”
Earlier this year, Torres led members of the California Congressional delegation in encouraging Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to restore California’s MEP Center after the state was left out of a December 2025 MEP Center funding opportunity. The lawmakers warned that leaving California without an MEP center would deny manufacturers access to technical assistance and resources that help strengthen domestic production and workforce development.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Torres has pushed for strong funding and safeguards for the MEP program, and is a longtime supporter of the program, including getting her bill, the National Supply Chain Database Act, signed into law as part of the CHIPS and Science Act . NIST’s latest decision to leave out California does not comply with the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public Law 119-74) signed into law in January 2026, which directed the Department to fund the MEP at fiscal year 2024 levels, and to “rapidly execute funding competitions” in order to minimize “the periods of time when no MEP Center is active in any State or Puerto Rico.
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