By: Ebony Flake, Essence
Poor communities of color suffer the most from exposure to environmental pollution and often benefit the least from the lucrative business opportunities created to solve it. Gravely is hopeful that new investments in urban infrastructure will help balance this equation.
The newly elected members of 135th Ohio General Assembly were sworn in during the first week of January. Republicans continue to dominate the majorities in both chambers with a 26-7 majority in the Senate and a 67-32 margin in the Ohio House. The legislature’s main focus for the next six months will be debating and passing Ohio’s budget bills. These mandated bills for enactment are the State Operating, Transportation, Workers’ Compensation, and Industrial Commission Budgets.
Courtney Astolfi, cleveland.com
Mayor Justin Bibb is pursuing plans to make the process of obtaining building permits and other city-issued permits quicker, less cumbersome, and ideally, less paper-based.
Cleveland Mayor Bibb continues to identify spending priorities for the City of Cleveland announcing his plan for the second half of funding under the of American Rescue Plan & Recovery Act Funds, and the Ohio General Assembly ended their spring session with a flurry of activity, most importantly passing the Capital Appropriations budget.
Mayor Justin Bibb named new leaders to oversee community relations, public works, capital projects and the city’s approach to transportation.
The hires are:
For decades, contractors have used third-party pre-qualification services to provide performance data to owner-clients. In recent years, however, the demand from these services for more detailed information has skyrocketed. As a result, contractors are forced to spend more time and money complying with the new requirements. The situation has prompted many in the industry to call for a better and more efficient way to give customers the information they need — and groups such as TAUC are taking action.
The Ohio General Assembly awaits yet another ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court regarding legislative and congressional redistricting, while the legislature, Cuyahoga County, and City of Cleveland government continue to move forward on several issues that will impact construction.
Courtney Astolfi, cleveland.com
Mayor Justin Bibb hired former Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed for a job aimed at cultivating minority businesses.
Reed ran against Bibb in the 2021 mayoral primary, but went on to endorse him in the general election against former City Council President Kevin Kelley.
The Ohio General Assembly picked up their pace after a slow start to the new year partially due to the Ohio Supreme Court’s rulings regarding legislative and congressional redistricting. As that issue nears resolution, the legislature’s priorities will focus on but not limited to; the capital reappropriations, capi-tal budget and appropriating more federal COVID-19 relief funding. The goal is to complete the capital re-appropriations budget, funding for already authorized projects, by March 31, 2022.
SB 105 Minority Businesses – is sponsored by State Senator Sykes and State Senator Schuring. It requires local governments to recognize state certifications of minority business enterprises (“MBEs”), women-owned business enterprises (“WBEs”), and veteran friendly business enterprises (“VBEs”) as criteria for their local comparable programs and initiatives. The bill does not prevent local governments from imposing their own requirements, but the legislation aims to cut red tape and reduce burdens for businesses. The bill has passed both chambers by a wide margin.
